Welcome Home
by Nirianne
Summary: Tala is adopted into a loving home, starting a new life but he had to leave his friends behind. It's not quite often blessings come in disguises but in this case, it's more than a blessing; it's a gift. R&R!
1. Never Say Goodbye

**A/N: **Something different I wanted to try. Something I read made me think, 'What if'. Enjoy and don't forget to review!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**Summary: **Tala is adopted into a loving home, starting a new life but he had to his friends behind. It's not quite often blessings come in disguises but in this case, it's more than a blessing; it's a gift.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Never Say Goodbye**

_You know when you have the feeling that you know your time has come? I have._

I stared outside the window covered with snow, frozen to the glass. The sight of white usually calmed the soul but to me, it meant nothingness. It reminded me of lonely nights locked away in a dark room deprived of warmth, food, water and light. Those memories used to haunt me every day and now, they seem nothing more than fleeting visions.

I opened my eyes again, blue eyes focusing on several pieces of luggage propped against the wall waiting for my timed departure. I couldn't stop thinking about this; I knew the time eventually would come but I never expected it to be this soon. Maybe I needed this, a new beginning, a new life. Hearing several knocks from my door, I allowed whoever was on the other side to enter. The door creaked open; I turned my head back to the snow covered window. I didn't need to see the guests. Well, more like I didn't _want_ to see the guests.

The first person who entered was Spencer. The large teen looked at me almost if questioning how I was fairing. Not too bad, actually. Although silent, his eyes speak for him. I heard shuffling from behind him; small footsteps entered my room and I guessed right, it was Ian. I felt Ian's eyes watching my every move, trying to read me but being the way I was, I hid my emotions well. Maybe a bit _too_ well. Lastly, Bryan entered. I turned my head locking eyes with him then moved to the others. Maybe it was time I spoke.

I jumped down from the window sill approaching them, "This a farewell committee?" I said without any hint of emotion in my voice.

Curious aren't you why my friends came to say goodbye? Here's the story: Since the fall of BEGA, things got a bit interesting. Mr. Dickenson, the kind soul as he was, thought we, the Blitzkrieg Boys deserved a loving family. Needless to say, I didn't quite appeal to the idea of him suddenly putting us up for adoption; we weren't lost puppies in the snow. Well, he didn't really put us for adoption but he gave us the choice if we wanted to live with others and start a normal life. I saw where he was coming from; all our lives we were trained to literally become machines.

Honestly, I quite liked the idea of staying with my teammates. Those were my friends and my closest family I'd ever have. Although, I had something the others didn't; I used to have parents. I couldn't remember much of them except my father used to be in the Russian military before he was dismissed because of his alcoholism. The bastard came home every night drunk to the core throwing his fists at my mother. I couldn't remember much of her except she was a beautiful woman until my father disfigured her face with his Swiss army knife. After her untimely death, I was left alone with the bastard. Every day he sent me on 'missions'. On days that were below zero, my father sent me out to get him booze. I hated the idea but if I didn't comply, he threatened I would be next. I did everything I was told until the miserable bastard died of an overdose. That day, I was the happiest boy _alive_.

Shortly after that's when my abbey life began; I didn't trust anybody except myself. I could only depend on myself. I only—

"Hey Tala,"

I snapped out of my thoughts abruptly locking eyes with Ian. He extended his hand out to me. Now wasn't this unusual? It was a farewell card. Picking the card, I scanned its contents reading everything they wrote for me. It almost forced me to pick up the corners of my lips, transforming it into a smile. Almost. Instead, I nodded, acknowledging and folded the card before placing it into a pocket in my jacket.

Another knock. I sighed, walking past them, opening the door. It was Mr. Dickenson. He asked me if I was ready. I nodded in response. He looked around the room scanning for my neatly packed luggage. Clicking his fingers, two other people entered my room gathering my luggage then left, as quickly as they came. The door closed again leaving me with my teammates—friends.

I breathed, "This isn't goodbye," I said eyeing everybody. "I'm just moving into a new house, into a new family in the suburbs, that's all. You guys can still visit me."

"We know," Spencer responded, his face unchanged. "It'll be different without you around here."

"You already miss me when I haven't even left yet?" I joked. "My, my, I guess you guys really do like my bossing around."

Spencer grunted, clearing his throat.

Glancing at the antique clock on the wall, I said, "Well, it's time to go."

I could barely make eye contact with my friends as I walked down the stairs with hands stuffed into my jacket. The floorboards creaked signaling my arrival. Mr. Dickenson looked up with a warm smile on his face asking if I was ready. Yes, I was. The more he questioned, the more I began to doubt this. I shook my head; I made the decision to start a new life with a new family. A family I never had as a child. I moved to the door until footsteps caught my attention. I turned around and there they were again… my friends.

Bryan was the first one to step out of line and without a word, he hugged me. I didn't have time to compute what was going on but before I knew it, Ian did the same followed by Spencer. My friends… right?

"You guys," I said firmly. "Stop acting like you'll never see me again,"

"I hate myself for doing this," Bryan spoke putting some distance between me and him. "Likewise, I can do _anything_ I want now!"

I chuckled, "Don't bet on it. In my absence, Spencer will be in charge. I trust him to not burn the house down."

"That's not fair!"

I raised an eyebrow, "Since when life was fair?"

It was probably the last time I get to laugh with my friends like this. Mr. Dickenson placed a hand on my shoulder signaling it was time to go. I placed my hand on the cold doorknob before slowly turning it. I glanced over my shoulder for one last time at my friends, waving goodbye to me.

Just as a small gush of wind past me, I smiled at my friends one last time before walking into the light, ready to start anew.


	2. The New Family

**A/N: **Thank you for the reviews!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**Summary: **Tala is adopted into a loving home, starting a new life but he had to his friends behind. It's not quite often blessings come in disguises but in this case, it's more than a blessing; it's a gift.

* * *

**Chapter 2: The New Family**

I snapped out of my daze as the car came to a halt. I noticed Mr. Dickenson smiled at me nervously and accessing my feelings. I felt fine, thank you very much. Removing my earphones, I tucked them away into my jacket. The doors opened and I stepped out, planting my boots into the snow. A large house stood in front of me; the exterior was painted in a crème color with a balcony aligned horizontally against it, decorated with Christmas garlands and golden bells. I couldn't tell the color of the roof as it was covered with a thick layer of snow; only the chimney stuck out like a sore thumb, spewing out grey smoke. By the side of the house was a large Christmas tree, decorated in garlands red, white and gold. Lights shined on it like small stars taken out from the sky, sown into the tree. On top was a large golden star, illuminating the shadows around it.

My eyes fell onto the three people standing in front of the front door with smiles on their faces. My stomach twisted and turned feeling slightly uneasy. I've only heard of them but to see them in the flesh, it seemed like a dream…

"Well Tala, what do you think?" I turned around facing Mr. Dickenson. I grunted in response. What was I supposed to think?

I turned my gaze toward the family again. Who would have thought they would accept me into their home? I'm an eighteen year old teenager who knew nothing of life until two years ago. Those were baby steps, learning life. Now, I could take those baby steps forcing myself to walk forward into the future. I breathed once more taking my first steps toward the family. As expected the moment I approached, their youngest daughter shied away, hiding behind her mother. I couldn't blame her; technically I wasn't 'child-friendly'.

Mr. Dickenson stuck his hand out greeting my 'parents'. Speaking in broken Russian he spoke, "It is good to see you again, Mr. and Mrs. Murin."

I stepped forward shaking hands with the large man soon to be my father. He was a tall man with glasses and a scar running down the side of his right eye. He had thick brown hair with several strands of grey sticking out from under his hat. I could tell he once was in the military. How, don't ask. He stood tall, proud and perhaps honorable he greeted me warmly. Although he was supported by a cane, it didn't seem to bother him. I moved my attention to the woman who stood beside him. Long, flowy blonde hair she had with eyes matching the color of the bright blue sky. She was a good foot shorter than him with a smile so warm; I felt my soul at ease.

"So you're Tala Ivanov," she said to me warmly. I nodded. "My name is Inessa Murin; it is good to meet you."

Was it possible for anybody to be this kind? "Nice to meet you," I turned my attention to the man. "And you are?"

"Gregori Murin," and there it was again, the warm smile.

It felt awkward standing there in front of my 'new family'. The term 'family' stung me. I always associated the word with pain and suffering but… I couldn't help feeling this family was different. They wanted me to be a part of theirs. They welcomed me with open arms.

Looking into Gregori's eyes I had to ask, "Am I allowed to keep my last name?"

A strange question to ask, I know. I wanted to keep my last name only to remind I had a loving mother as a child who was my protector and savior from the rampant beast.

Gregori laughed, "Of course you can keep your last name!" he patted my back reassuringly. "You are more than welcome to attach our surname with yours."

I nodded. My attention turned to the little girl hiding behind Inessa. I crouched down, getting to her eye level, "Hello there, little one. My name's Tala. What's yours?"

I saw a small hand poke out from the side.

"Calina." The little girl whispered.

I couldn't help but smile a little. "Calina. What a beautiful name. A beautiful name usually comes with a beautiful face, am I right?"

I heard giggles. Calina stepped out of her mother's shadow. That's when I saw her face; Calina wasn't like her mother or father, she was blind. Even so, she supported the face of a young child, filled with life and potential. I noted something else was off; Calina didn't exactly look like her parents either but I rather not question anything now.

She approached me wrapping her small arms around my neck. Hm, this was odd. I knew I wasn't 'children-friendly' but this one had no trouble approaching me. Strangely enough, I always wanted a little sister. That almost came true until—

"Well Tala m'boy, welcome to your new home," Mr. Dickenson said to me in English.

Calina released me as I stood up, eyes locking with Mr. Dickenson's grey ones, "…Thank you." I said. I wasn't sure what else I should say…

He placed a hand on my shoulder, "I wish you all the best in your new home. If you need anything, don't hesitate to contact me."

I nodded. I watched the two men at the gate carrying my belongings into the Murin home. This was going to be my new home. _My_ home. I shook hands with Mr. Dickenson one last time before he turned around, waving, heading to the van and disappeared over the snow filled horizon. A small gush of wind forced me to look at the family again. For once in my life, I'm speechless. Gregori stuck out his hand motioning me to come inside. I followed, glancing over my shoulder once more and walked into my 'home'.

I couldn't believe the interior the house supported; the walls were painted crème, aligned with expensive statues and paintings with floral golden frames. I looked down walking on authentic Persian rugs imported from the Middle-East and beneath that, the floor was aligned with emerald green marble slabs. Vases aligned the walls, perhaps acquired from French auctioneers. Absorbing the sight, I had to look up. As expected, a large multi-layered chandelier hung gracefully above me, crafted out of the finest crystals money could afford. I was in awe.

"Welcome to your new home," Gregori said. "Come, I'll give you a tour of the house."

I followed Gregori to different rooms the house offered; the living room, dining room, study room, recreation room, music room, the kitchen, the pantry, the green house and lastly…

"This room is yours," Gregori opened the oak door. I entered.

There was a king size bed pushed against the corner. In front of the bed was my study table with books aligned neatly in the bookshelves in chronological order by author's names. Around the room were more tables, couches, a large flat panel TV attached to the wall, a small fridge in the corner and the list went on! I even had my own bathroom. I couldn't help when I noticed there was another door at the end of the room. Curiously I opened the door and to my surprise, there was a large orange beydish installed for me. On the tables were beyblade parts and tools I could use to tune up Wolborg. The Murins did their homework well, I noted. On the far end of the wall was another TV screen and it too was attached to the wall.

"Amazing,"

And just like that the TV screen flickered on. I discovered it was voice activated. Pictures flashed on the screen relaying beyblading news and all sorts of other things. I exited the room walking to the large window. I pressed my hand up against it feeling the cold spread through my palm. I always wanted a room with a large window. I always wanted to know what the world was up to through this thin panel of glass. I always wanted to know when the sun came out or when the first snow fell. I want to know.

"You like your room?"

"Indeed," I turned around approaching Gregori. "I can't believe all of this is… for me."

"Hey, you're my son now. You deserve to have the best a father could offer."

I couldn't help but smile. It wasn't all the small gadgets that impressed me; it was the amount of time and effort the Murins took into account the things I loved. I loved reading books and it was all here in my room. I loved beyblading more than anything and they made a small rec room for me, to practice. I couldn't be more blessed. What got me was the amount of warmth and care this family already gave me within this hour.

"Tala,"

I looked up and it was Inessa. In her hands was a large gift-wrapped box.

"Here," she walked up placing it in my arms. "My gift to you, my son."

I slowly opened the gift, avoiding ripping the fragile golden paper. My hands dug into box pulling out its contents.

"Inessa—I mean, mom… I mean…" God, what do I call her?

She chuckled, so did Gregori. "You can call me Inessa or Mom. I don't mind." She laughed. "So do you like your gift?"

Inessa got me a new laptop, fully equipped with the latest processor! Things were suddenly becoming overwhelming; never had I experienced such kindness and care in one day. I'm beyond the point of shocked… I'm just…

"You'll be using that in university," Gregori added proudly. "We've enrolled you Moscow State University. You'll be starting in January."

How was that possible? I never technically attended high school accept for several semesters before I was expelled. I shifted uncomfortably, rubbing my arms. Although now I thought about it, I remember taking this test several months ago, measuring my academic skills. Maybe it was those scores that got me in, maybe.

I stared at my parents. All of this was for me. I couldn't even begin to describe the amount of feelings surging within me… but wait. Do they now about my past? What would they say? Heck, what would they think? I began to wonder how much Mr. Dickenson told them about my past? Would they ever forgive me? Shaking those thoughts out of my head, I managed to summon my voice and thanked them both. I thanked them for allowing me to become a part of their family, I thanked them for giving me all the things I never dreamt of and… I thanked them for allowing me a second chance in life.

"No need to thank us, m'boy," Gregori said brightly. "Come, lunch is waiting! I bet you're hungry!"

"Yeah."

It was a strange feeling, suddenly feeling Inessa hold my hand and so did Gregori. I was a part of the Murin family now. As they were about to leave, I was stuck to my place. Inessa looked at me with her beautiful blue eyes.

"Something the matter, Tala?" Inessa asked.

"Yes, something the matter, son?"

I glanced up meeting Inessa and Gregori's eyes. I breathed in summoning the courage to speak from my heart. "Thank you… Mom and Dad."


	3. Family Portrait

**A/N: **I thank you again for your kind reviews! On a side note, other stories of mine will be put on halt momentarily until I can figure out a way to sort things out.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**Summary: **Tala is adopted into a loving home, starting a new life but he had to his friends behind. It's not quite often blessings come in disguises but in this case, it's more than a blessing; it's a gift.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Family Portrait**

My fingers trailed down the wall as I walked down the dimly lit hallway. My fingers grazed each picture the same moment a heavy note struck, echoing from my mp3 player. Each picture frame had pictures of the Murin family; smiles plastered on their faces as if nothing were wrong with the world. The family was nice, I'd admit but could there be something as _too_ nice? I shouldn't think too much of it, I reminded myself removing my fingers away from the last portrait.

The time was eleven fifty-nine PM. Everyone was asleep, except me. Opening the door, I entered my room quietly. Every time I entered, I had to absorb my surroundings again and again, making sure none of this was an illusion. For a moment I closed my eyes breathing in the fresh air a sudden wind delivered to me from my opened balcony window. I had to make sure everything would still be here when I reopened my eyes. The last thing I wanted was for everything to slip through my fingers.

I opened my eyes again. Everything remained the same. My fingers once again moved along the wallpaper covered wall until it started tracing a large painting of the Baltic Sea, illustrated to perfection. Every brush stroke captured the sea's waves, moving in unison against the shoreline leaving behind in its wake a trail of pristine white foam. Small boats aligned the horizon just out of reach from the sun's rays from the sky. I began to wonder how it would be like to go boating there one day… with my new family. I closed my eyes; I could smell the sea, I felt the cool breeze graze against my skin, I felt the sun's warm rays warming up my skin and I heard the sound of my family laughing.

"I would be nice, wouldn't it?" I spoke aloud, moving my fingers to a boat in the center of the painting.

I moved away from the painting to my study table where my laptop and wireless four-in-one printer was set up. Tapping the keys, the laptop snapped out of hibernation resuming its functions. Instantly, I logged into an instant messaging program.

[You have 10 new messages in your inbox]

As I suspected, emails from my teammates. I couldn't help but smirk; I'm gone for one day and already I received _spam_. I could assume it was about the problems in the house or problems regarding Bryan or Ian, one or the other. Honestly, I could barely care less about leaking pipes, broken fireplaces, expired food in the fridge, untrimmed hedges in the garden, broken heating systems, Ian's unorganized library, Bryan's 'questionable' stashes of magazines, Spencer's missing Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes novels and what not. I sighed. Suddenly, I received an instant message. May the interrogation commence.

_Bryan K. says:_ Heyyyy! How's it going Tallie? :D

I rolled my eyes. I hated those blasted things called emoticons. Ugh. Really? Calling me 'Tallie' like some sort of mutt? Every time Bryan gave me a new pet name, he sticks with it and every time, I fail to outdo him by creating my own pet name for him. I'm not as creative as he was. Instead, I just give up.

_Tala I. says: _Shut it. I'm doing fine if you must know.

_Tala I. says: _Actually I like it here without your annoying, childish whines, obsessive questioning and immature behavior. The little girl here acts more mature than you ever will be, Kuznetsov.

_Bryan K. says: _I'm hurt D: ! Yeah… whatever…

_Bryan K. says: _Hehe, same old, same old. Even on the other side of town and you're still the same old bastard in the inside. I thought you would change with the new family and all.

Gee, thanks Bryan for pointing out the _very _obvious. I rolled my eyes dismissing his accusations of calling me a 'bastard'.

_Tala I. says: _Even though I moved to the other side of the world IDIOT, I'll still be the same. Nothing is going to change me.

_Ian P. and Spencer have been added to the conversation._

_Ian P. says: _Hi Tala! How's it going? Liking the new family?

_Spencer says: _…The house hasn't burned down yet…

_Spencer says: _Let me rephrase that: the house has yet to burn down.

I face-palmed then massaged the bridge of my nose. Wow, wasn't this my lucky day? With a grin on my face, I talked with my friends until the wee hours of the morning.

* * *

I woke up at eight o'clock on the dot. I stretched, running a hand through my outrageous bed hair. Talking with those morons sapped away my energy, mainly, my ability to think logically. Never again would I sit in my chair reading problems created by Bryan or Ian. I pity Spencer, I really do. _He'll manage it, _I thought releasing a yawn. Getting off my bed, I walked directly to the window. As expected, sometime while talking to the morons, it snowed.

Three knocks echoed from my door. The door opened as a maid entered, bowing to me.

"Master Murin summons you to join him and his family for breakfast, Master Ivanov."

Master Ivanov? I liked the sound of that. I grunted in response signaling her to leave. With the door closed, I headed toward the bathroom. This would be my first day as their 'son'.

I entered the breakfast room twenty minutes later greeting Gregori—my father, who had a pipe hanging from the corner his mouth. He acknowledged my presence, nodding to me as I sat next to him. Across from me was Inessa—my mother and Calina. Butlers and maids entered the room with trays of food. Even I, a person who does not eat much could not comprehend the amount of food being served. The amounts, as much as I could approximate were for at least for five—heck, even six individuals. Don't tell me someone here has two stomachs?

A tower of pancakes was placed down before me while syrup dripped off the edges into a golden, sticky river. Beside the dish was a tray of fresh, blood red strawberries and beside that, a small bowl of whipped cream. It didn't help when the Murins heard my stomach rumble.

"Tala's blushing!" Calina exploded into a fit of giggles.

I coughed, clearing my throat.

_Thank you, stomach for humiliating me._ _Remind me to stuff you to the point you would never complain again._

With the last slice of pancake gone, the butlers and maids entered, quickly clearing the table. A maid approached Gregori with a newspaper on a silver platter.

"Thank you Irene but not today," Gregori generously pushed away the platter and stood up from his chair, approaching me. Placing a hand down on my shoulder he announced brightly, "We're going to go out into the Christmas fields to get another Christmas tree!"

My attention moved from Gregori to Calina who jumped out of her mother's lap with joy. Christmas, huh? I never celebrated it until last year. In fact, the idea of celebrating it made me feel… out of place. Awkward. Every time I began to remember, everybody around me laughed, joked and downright transformed into obnoxious or brainless morons and drunken idiots. Either way, I refused to participate in such childish games.

"Do you celebrate Christmas, Tala?" Gregori asked me.

Startled from my thoughts I replied, "Only once."

And once was enough. Long story short: Christmas at Tyson's dojo featuring _most_ teams from the BBA. It was a disaster. Never again am I going to set foot in that insane household. _However,_ I would make the effort to celebrate it this year with the Murins due to very obvious reasons. I stood up from my seat, nodding to Gregori telling him I was ready to go and find the tree. He warmly smiled, moving his attention to Inessa and Calina.

"Let's go girls! A tree awaits!"

* * *

We arrived at the Christmas tree farm an hour later. Never in my life had I seen so many Christmas trees in one place. I moved to the nearest tree, my gloved hand touching its snow covered leaves. I never knew pine had such a pleasant aroma. I heard the door shut behind me. Turning around I watched Gregori and Inessa look around for the perfect tree. I turned my attention back to the hundreds of trees before me and thought: _They all look the same to me…_

Inessa smiled, hanging onto her husband's arm, "Tala, why don't you and Calina find a tree?"

"M-Me?" I couldn't help but point to myself.

She nodded. "Well, we all took turns in finding a tree in previous years and since you're the new addition to the family—"

"We'd like you to choose." Gregori added.

Ugh… okay. I nodded nervously. I heard the car open again and this time, Calina jumped out. Her mother untangled herself from Gregori, guiding the girl to me. It was odd of me reaching my hand, embracing her small digits, pulling her toward me. She giggled. Before we left my 'parents' told me to call them the moment I spotted the perfect tree.

Calina and I walked down an aisle of trees, hand in hand. I looked around; everything looked alike. Surely, each tree had its own unique qualities but how was I supposed to know what the _perfect_ tree looked like? Wherever I go, I saw plastic trees erected up in corners, decorated with stars, Christmas ornaments, strings of lights and the like. On top of it all, _how_ was Calina going to chose for me? Technically she couldn't see. Speaking of seeing, I had to ask.

"Calina, how did you know I blushed?"

She giggled, holding my hand tighter. "I'm only partially blind."

"Ah," so that explains it. Ahem, next time when I decide to blush, my face should be hidden. "So, Calina, how old are you?"

"Six!"

"Ah," I responded. Where did all my vocabulary go?

We continued walking hopelessly through the maze of greenery. Okay, let me rephrase that: whiteness. No matter how much I tried looking for the _perfect _tree, it seemed the tree was elusive, hidden behind shadows of larger trees. Calina suddenly released my hand, running down a small, snaked path. I quickly followed her as my red and orange scarf trailed behind me in the wind. I watched the small girl approach a large tree at the end of the trail. Spreading her fingers across its trunk, she felt the thick trunk with fingers moving into the grooves of the bark then up onto the branches. What she was doing? I watched her look up through the maze of branches and leaves. Right now, I could honestly say I was lost by Calina's actions.

"Tala," she spoke to me without turning around. "This is the tree."

"The tree?" I questioned. I looked at the tree beside me seeing double. It looked alike so why that one I wondered.

"Call mom and dad. We got ourselves a tree!"

I did exactly what I was told. I phoned Gregori and Inessa informing them of the tree. Technically it was my job to locate the tree though at the moment, I could barely care less. I could barely feel any movement from my toes, my fingers probably caught frostbite, my nose was frozen and my ears stung! …And I call myself a Russian resident. Brilliant.

Fifteen minutes later, two distinct figures approached us. "Tala m'boy!"

"Hi," I greeted.

"What a beautiful tree," Gregori exclaimed approaching it. His fingers fell into the grooves of the bark. He ran his finger up and down. Just like Calina, he looked up and nodded with approval. Okay, could someone tell me what was so great about staring up the trunk of tree?

"So, who picked out the tree?" Inessa asked.

Before I replied, Calina answered brightly, "Tala did!"

Wait, why, what? No, no, no, you got it all wrong! Your daughter picked it out, not me! I tried to voice out the truth but as stubborn as my voice was, it decided it wanted to remain stuck in my throat. I give up. Today my body was against me; thank you stomach and throat.

* * *

We arrived back at the house with butlers waiting in line at the front door. I trailed behind the Murins while Inessa directed traffic. I watched the butlers one by one removing the tree from the roof the car. It didn't take long until the tree was brought into the home, moved into the living room right by the fireplace in the corner. Inessa took my hand leading me upstairs into a room at the end of the hallway. Turning the golden doorknob, she opened the door; inside were boxes and boxes of labeled Christmas decorations. She directed me to get the ladder to get several boxes from the top shelf.

"Are you excited to decorate your first Christmas tree?" she asked, receiving a box from me.

I paused for a moment, thinking of my response. Excited? "Um…"

She smiled. Climbing back down the ladder, I followed Inessa into the living room where the butlers, maids, Gregori and Calina waited for us. Strange, butlers and maids were invited to decorate the Christmas tree? Inessa placed a box down and opened it. Inside Christmas ornaments shined reflecting the light from the fireplace. Inessa picked out an angel-shaped ornament giving it to me. She urged me to place it in any branch. I took the ornament and walked to the large tree placing the ornament on it. Okay, what was so special about it?

I was soon answered when everybody, including butlers and maids joined in decorating the tree. It was unusual to see everybody smiling, having a great time and what I noted was the butlers and maids were treated as equals. Not once did the Murins scolded or bad mouthed them; instead, they allowed them to do whatever they pleased. Soon enough, I must admit, the tree looked _amazing, _stunning, beautiful and other adjectives I couldn't think of at the moment. It shined so bright, it may have outshone the brightest star in the sky. A maid moved to the alter on the fireplace pressing a button. Soft, Christmas melodies echoed from behind the large tree.

Calina moved next to me holding my hand. "Pretty?"

I nodded. "Yes, very pretty."

"Honey, let's get a family picture taken," Inessa suggested to her husband.

"Oh, that's a brilliant idea! Okay everybody! Picture time!"

A butler pulled out a digital camera from his pocket while other butlers and maids herded us like sheep to the tree. I noticed Calina held my hand tighter, giggling. Inessa stood to the right of me with her arms tied around mine and Gregori stood behind me with an arm around me.

"Perfect!" said the butler smiling warmly. His finger was on the shutter, ready to shoot. "Okay, in three, two, one and smile!"

Later that day, the hallway that I once passed gained another picture frame hung up with a floral, golden frame. The Murins had a new addition to the picture: the first picture of their adopted son who smiled for the first time from his heart.


	4. My Friends

**A/N: **I can't begin to say how thankful I am to receive such lovely reviews from you guys! You guys really make my day! I'd like to thank **khooxp** for giving me an idea for this chapter ;) Sorry again if it's not well-written like the previous chapters; I had trouble relaying my words.

This chapter is slightly longer than I had anticipated soooo… ^^;

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**Summary: **Tala is adopted into a loving home, starting a new life but he had to his friends behind. It's not quite often blessings come in disguises but in this case, it's more than a blessing; it's a gift.

* * *

**Chapter 4: My Friends**

I can't believe I'm doing this, I thought bitterly after staring at my laptop screen for at least half an hour. I sighed aloud, pinching the area between my eyes having the sense of 'I'm about to regret this' moment. My finger moved the cursor involuntarily to the 'Send' button. It was done. I couldn't believe mom asked me to invite my _buddies_ to a formal dinner. It almost seemed like a joke; invite them to a black tie party? Them? The Blitzkrieg Boys? Really? Just thinking about it made my head throb. Those guys weren't particularly accustomed to high class etiquette. Those guys? Let me correct myself: Bryan wasn't accustomed to high class etiquette but then again, Ian wasn't either. I could always count on Spencer; during our tours last year Spencer and I attended many black tie parties, dealing with sponsorships and fans.

_I can't believe mom told me to do this…_ My eyes travelled to the intricately carved ceiling with my fingers involuntarily tapping the arm rest demonstrating my agitation.

My eyes snapped to large window to my right. I have the urge to jump through the glass to my ultimate doom. I sighed aloud.

I walked downstairs with hands stuffed in my pockets, heading into the dining room. When I pushed the door open, my eyes had to adjust to the _insane _amount of Christmas decorations the room offered; Christmas lights were attached to mostly _everything,_ intertwined with silver garlands, golden bells and red silk bows. On the walls were snowflake cutouts made by Calina, dazzled in silver and blue glitter. There was a large silver banner hung at the end of the hall spelling out: **MERRY CHRISTMAS** in bold, capitalized red letters. Wow. Inessa turned around giving me a warm smile as she climbed down the ladder, approaching me.

"Good morning sweetheart,"

I shuddered.

Inessa laughed, "I take it you don't like being called 'sweetheart'."

"No."

I nodded. I hated that term! So mushy… so… lovable.

Inessa chuckled. "Alright, I won't call you that again, I promise."

Somehow, I didn't believe her. Feeling a blush creeping up on my cheeks I quickly shook my head, immediately changing the subject.

"Anything you want me to help with?"

"I'm glad you asked," Inessa signaled one of the maids named Irene to approach me. "I want you and Irene to go up to the attic and fetch some decorations. Think you two can handle that?"

We nodded. Irene walked around me heading to the door, guiding me down the emerald green marble floors, candlelit hallways and up the carpet covered stairs. Reaching the top floor, Irene instructed me to stand aside as she pulled a chair from the hallway. I took several steps back watching her climb onto the chair with fingers trying to pry open the lock carefully. I heard her grunt, cursing quietly in French. With a distinct 'click', she slowly lowered the latch until—

"**LOOK OUT!**"

She lost her footing; the ladder from above exploded out of the latch, crashed down with such force knocking Irene off the chair. I did what any Good Samaritan would do; become a cushion. Groans echoed from below. I couldn't move at the moment with Irene on my back. I felt her heel dug into the back of my hand. Ow.

"Master Ivanov!" She shrieked. She quickly got up pulling me to my feet. Irene quickly pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket dusting my clothes. "I'm sorry!"

I immediately ceased her hand. Irene tensed. There we were eye to eye. Without my knowledge I employed my death glare, the same look I use on my opponents. I didn't realize I was scaring her until she quickly turned away. She immediately withdrew her hand.

"My apologies."

* * *

An hour later we made our way back down from the attic with Christmas ornament boxes.

"Irene," I spoke up as I carefully walked down the stairs. "I'm sorry for before,"

She continued walking, increasing her strides. "I-It's nothing, Master Ivanov." I watched her quickly run down the stairs heading toward the dining room.

I sighed. I really should work on my death glare or better yet, not use it at all.

* * *

Later that evening, I was up in my room adjusting my tux, observing myself in the mirror. I look nothing short of a ridiculous penguin. Now that I'm alone, I couldn't help but to think about today's _guests. _How would they behave? I remembered Gregori informing me of the rules. I sighed aloud, rubbing my temples. I could just _feel_ it now; _somebody_ would swear. Glancing over myself one last time, I was ready. My eyes moved to my golden watch on my left hand; it was just quarter to six. I breathed slowly.

"Let's get this over with."

I was downstairs with my father talking with red wine in hand. I swirled the red liquid in its glass enclosure, round and round hoping it could tell me the future. I knew this was nonsense so I stopped. At the corner of my eye, I saw a small smile from Gregori.

"What?" I snapped but I didn't like it when people suddenly smile at me for no good reason.

"Worried about your teammates?"

I nodded, taking in a large sip and replied, "I'm beyond worried, Gregori…"

My fears soon proved true when a butler approached Gregori informing of the guest's arrival. I quickly looked around for another glass of wine. There, my eyes landed on several filled glasses of wine at the far end of the hall, enticing me to drink. I was about to make my way until Gregori dragged me by the arm to greet my _best buddies in the whole wide world!_

I stood at the door with dad by my side. Any minute now, Bryan's voice would explode from the other side going on about how big the house was and how lucky I was. After that, I would hear Spencer's voice calming down Bryan to keep his mouth shut just in case some _colorful_ vocabulary slipped out. What would I give to crawl into a hole right now. Hell, I don't even know why I'm freaking out like this!

Without realizing, I began to twiddle my thumbs. It was a habit I caught from Ian; whenever he was nervous he began twiddling his thumbs to somehow, speed up time. I did the same. It was a contagious habit which could not be properly cured. Feeling eyes on me, I nervously stuffed my hands into my pockets.

"Yo, check out this door! It has golden door knobs on it!"

I believe that was Bryan. I wanted to face-palm or smack my head against the wall multiple times.

"Bryan, where are your manners? It was nice Tala to invite all of us so…"

That was Spencer. I failed to decipher the last couple of words from Spencer but one could assume they were warnings. The door creaked open. I watched—no, glared at my teammates entering this humble abode. To my surprise, my _friends_ remained silent. I half-expected them to release 'Ooos' and 'Ahhhs' due to the interior's fine infrastructure. With butlers removing their coats, they approached Gregori shaking his hand. Then all eyes fell on me. I coughed, clearing my throat.

"Dad, these are my teammates: the Blitzkrieg Boys," I turned around for a slight moment _glaring_ at them to be on their utmost _best_ behavior, "This is Spencer,"

Spencer shook Gregori's hand. "Nice to meet you. It is a pleasure to be here, sir."

"This is Bryan,"

"Hiya!"

I cringed. At the corner of my eye, Gregori didn't seem to mind.

"And this is Ian."

I watched the small teen raise up his hand to shake Gregori's massive digits, nodding in submission. "Hello."

Gregori took a step back and looked at all four of us. He was reminded we were once Russia's National Champions and I could proudly say he was glad to have one of them in his home. Of course I wasn't sure if he thought that but just thinking about it made me proud.

"Wonderful!" Gregori clapped his hands signaling the butlers to come, serving us drinks, "So these are the famous Blitzkrieg Boys! I'm so proud to have one of my sons to be a part of the team!"

Okay, now I could gloat. We talked for thirty minutes until Gregori dismissed me to give my _friends_ a tour of the house. Placing wine glasses on the table, I motioned them to follow. It was then the sound of 'Ooos' and 'Ahhhs' echoed as we walked through hallways aligned with priceless marble statues and drapes imprinted with the Murin's family crest. Ian could not stop gazing at the paintings aligning the walls; to him, they almost seemed too life-like, ready to explode out of the frame. His fingers reached touching the edge of the golden frame.

"This is real gold, isn't it?"

I nodded. They better get used to the fact everything in his house was real. I could see where Ian came from; all our lives we were tricked into things which never existed. It was a habit to believe everything in front of us was illusions. Reaching the music room, I opened its large golden doors guiding them inside. Strange; I watched Spencer walking directly to a violin as his fingers grazed its wooden glossy finish. He turned around to me.

"May I?"

I nodded. None of us expected this; Spencer picked up the violin bracing it on his shoulder. We sat down on the couch observing his movements. I never expected this, so did Bryan and Ian. Spencer tested out the violin stringing a couple of tunes. We watched him breathe in sync with his hand movements, moving along the strings. A tune abruptly erupted into fast musical vibes sending us into a world of notes and dreams. The notes took us to a far, far away place following the path laid out by the notes demanding more and more—

Spencer stopped. All of us were at the edge of our seats waiting for the next note; it never came. How long were we entranced by the music? Glancing over at the grandfather clock in the corner, Spencer enchanted us for fifteen minutes! My legs moved without my authority; I stood up, clapping as loud as I could. That was brilliant! Never before had I heard a musical piece played to perfection.

"Spencer," my mouth spoke before my brain could process what was going on. I was literally speechless by his musical talent, "I had no idea you played the violin. Hell, I didn't know you played any instruments!"

Spencer cleared his throat, adjusting his cuffs nervously. He placed the violin back to its original position, stepping away from it. We knew whenever Spencer received a compliment; he'd try not to blush. Sudden phantom claps caught our attention; we followed the sounds to the door. Inessa leaned by the wall with Irene hidden around the corner of the oak doorframe.

"Amazing," Inessa approached my teammates shaking hands with each of them. "Allow me to introduce myself: I am Inessa Murin, Tala's mother."

I saw Bryan's mouth open at the corner of my eye. I believe I could assume Bryan was taken by Inessa's expensive threads or Irene.

"Well boys, dinner will be served in fifteen minutes. See you there,"

The moment the door closed, Bryan turned his head to me placing both hands on my shoulders. I rolled my eyes.

"Who. Was. That?"

Bryan questioned me, shaking me until I felt my brain did flops in my skull.

"My mom." I replied narrowing my eyes.

"No, the other girl."

Ow, that hurt you incompetent moron! Keep your voice down!

"Irene, our maid." I replied again.

There was a glint in his eye. Ugh.

"Is she taken?"

I narrowed my eyes, "Do I look like a mind reader to you?"

I dusted off his hands adjusting my suit, ironing out creases made by him. For ten minutes, the hallway echoed with Bryan's obsessive questioning about Irene. I tried my best to answer him to only to have my replies interrupted with more questions. I give up. We entered the hall with Gregori motioning us to our seats. We sat in a group followed by the Murins and Irene, who sat between Bryan and Inessa. She never took notice Bryan's gazed was locked on her.

Gregori stood up with a wine filled crystal goblet, "Today, we welcome Russia's own Blitzkrieg Boys! I couldn't be more honored to host such talented guests and our son's friends,"

Claps echoed. I quickly turned my head away hiding my blush.

"A friend of our son is a friend of ours," Gregori turned his attention to us. In response we smiled back lifting up our glasses acknowledging his kind words. "Let is make a toast to our son and his friends!"

* * *

Dinner could be described as the feast for the gods; platter after platter food was brought and laid in rows in front of us. I couldn't even begin to describe what types of delicacies lay before me. Reaching out my fork and knife, I sliced a good chuck of turkey moving it onto my plate. No matter how many times I stare at the food, I just couldn't wrap my mind around it. My mind took me back to my days at the abbey where food was not served on a silver platter with polished utensils, adorned with sauces or even a simple candle to see in the darkness. Nothing. We were treated worse than dogs. We weren't even treated as humans. We were machines.

I never noticed I clutched my knife so hard my knuckles turned white.

"Tala, something the matter?" I snapped out of my gaze meeting eye to eye with Inessa.

I shook my head. "Nothing, mom."

I glanced over to my friends for a moment and as I suspected; they probably thought the same thing too. Well, the past was the past; nothing was going to haunt us now.

Placing down my fork after a good twenty minutes of fine dining, I wiped my mouth turning my attention Calina. The young girl dressed in green and red apparently was staring at me for the longest time without my knowledge.

"Yes, Calina?"

"Who's that sitting there?" I turned my head to the side. "Which one?"

"That guy!" she pointed. I followed her finger that landed on Ian. I couldn't help but smirk; this was going to be interesting.

"This is Ian, one of my teammates."

Calina squealed, hopped off her chair. I saw her little hazelnut colored pony tail bob up and down as she skipped around the table reaching me. She dug her face into my sleeve and whispered, "Can you ask your friend if I can dance with him?"

Oh? My little sister wants to dance with Ian? That could be arranged. Without warning, I grabbed Ian's arm, yanking him off the chair. Everybody watched the short teen drop his fork in protest to my actions. I dragged them both to an open area in the dining room. Ian, before he could speak was in the arms of Calina who giggled, holding his hands dancing to music in her head. I took a couple of steps back watching Ian's face turn a shade redder.

I glanced over to my parents who couldn't help but laugh. Gregori placed down his wine glass turning to Inessa, "Would you like to dance with me m'lady?"

Everything was looking great, I admit watching my family have fun and my teammates who I barely see smile. Leaning by the wall, I took another shot of vodka tapping my foot against the rhythm. Every so often someone would ask me to join but I politely declined; dancing wasn't one of my strong points. I watched Bryan and Irene dance together gracefully. Gracefully was one of the terms I never used with Bryan but I must admit, he knew how to dance. As the music got louder, I excused myself, placing the shot glass on the table, walking down the hallway away as the tunes faded with the darkness. I headed toward a large window panel pressing my fingers against it with eyes peeled to the sky. Any moment now, I thought, watching, waiting.

It was as if the snow gods heard my call; snow fell from the sky one by one with the wind gently nudging them left and right.

"You always liked watching the snow fall,"

I turned and locked gazes with my teammates.

Pushing myself from the window I asked, "You guys done dancing?"

"Yep," Ian replied. "I can't believe you did that to me!"

"Hey, I couldn't say no to Calina," I smirked. "Besides, she really had fun."

Spencer spoke, "Hey Tala, your mom said she wants us to see a picture you took yesterday? Can we see it?"

I guided my friends down the hallway turning a corner before we headed upstairs to the hall of portraits. Once again I stood face to face with the family picture we took yesterday.

_The boy who smiled from his heart,_ I thought. _I never thought I'd see the day._

"You look happy." I turned my attention to Bryan. He reached his fingers out touching the picture and smiled at me. "You've found yourself a good family, Tala, you really did."

"I know," I turned my attention back to the picture seeing the smiles from my family.

"I wonder if we're gonna be as lucky as you…" Bryan trailed off.

"What?" I turned my head to him again but this time I caught nervous looks from both Ian and Spencer. "What's—"

Spencer stepped forward placing a hand on my shoulder, "Mr. Dickenson informed us one of us will be going next,"

I didn't mean for my heart to plummet to the soles of my feet. I should be happy, hell, I should be ecstatic for them! Finally, they could receive a loving family they craved for all their lives. For a chance to be normal, they'd do anything.

I shook my head, "Are you sure you guys want this?" I had to ask, I had to be sure.

"Yeah," Bryan replied placing his hands behind his head. "We thought it through. Spencer and Ian did, I'm staying on my own."

I turned my attention to Spencer. "This is what you want?"

He nodded.

I turned to Ian. "You too?"

He nodded. I just remembered we were always together as a team… as friends. It was hard for me to admit they were more than just teammates but they were _my_ best friends. I felt things weren't going to be the same; everybody would be scattered to different parts of the country or perhaps, different parts of the world. I lowered my head…

"Hey," it was Spencer's voice. I couldn't look him directly in the eye. "Let's not think about that okay? Why don't we have a good beybattle for old times' sake?"

* * *

The long arm of the clock struck midnight. The front doors were open. Outside, a good foot of snow was shoved to the sides revealing cobblestone steps snaking their way through to the waiting ivory limousine. There we stood, all four of us. With conversations fading one by one, I said goodbyes to my friends. Each one stepped out into the snow soon to be covered by white. I never realized after several steps they took, they were farther and farther from me; I couldn't reach them anymore! My legs instinctively moved own their own with my arm outstretched. I saw each of their faces turning around to me, almost one last time. I saw their lips move, they said something to me. What were they saying? A strong gush of wind knocked me back inside the house. I shielded my face from the cruel cold breeze scraping my skin, leaving cold sores as a reminder.

When the winds settled, I removed my arms. I reached out my arm again hoping to catch a glimpse of them. They slipped through my fingers… They were gone.


	5. I Don't Cry

**A/N: **I passed 10 reviews! Thank you so much for those you reviewed! Free chocolate chip cookies for **everybody!** :D Um, this chapter is slightly different… ^^; Oh and sorry for the short chapter… hehe.

Oh as a slight note, would you like to see a sequel to this story? Or would you like to see where the rest of the Blitzkrieg Boys end up? I donno! If so, drop me a line

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**Summary: **Tala is adopted into a loving home, starting a new life but he had to his friends behind. It's not quite often blessings come in disguises but in this case, it's more than a blessing; it's a gift.

* * *

**Chapter 5: I Don't Cry**

"_Let's go Wolborg!" I yelled at the top of my lungs sensing my victory draw closer and closer with each passing second. "__**FINISH HIM!**__"_

_ And just like that, Wyborg shot out of the beydish landing beside Ian's foot. Three wins in a row. With the battles now done, we all relaxed, falling back into leather couches in the rec room. The TV switched on, relaying beyblading news, if there was anything to relay about. The camera shot footage of the incomplete BBA building standing tall with steel columns embedded into the concrete; construction crew and materials littered the sight. It was nowhere close to being done. The next scene was shot at a nearby river where the temporary BBA HQ was established in a small shack. In front of the shack were small orange beydishes for children to practice with, on their journey to become the next rising stars. The boys watched the children, both girls and boys pull on their ripcords with determination, hoping to win their battles, gaining the right to boast and gloat. Long story short: they were hoping to become the next World Champion in their own right._

"_It's going to be awhile before the building returns back to normal," I said aloud breaking the silence. _

_ Nobody replied. Everybody was consumed within their own thoughts reminding one of us was next to go. Who? Surely it was between Spencer or Ian although it rose some questions: Why didn't Bryan want a home? Of all the years I've known him, I've known him to be very independent, like me but doesn't he want a loving family too? I guess he cherished his independence spreading his wings to the furthest corners of the world to do what he pleases._

_I turned my attention to Ian. I only knew so much about his past. He was the last to join the Blitzkrieg Boys. _

_As rumor went, Ian was the runt of the litter from his father's first marriage. I don't know how much of what I heard was true but just listening to his stories disturbed me, even back when I was a selfish boy. I remember we had a small conversation once in the lunch room and Ian told me without any hint of emotion; his step-mother threw him out of the house, during a cold, treacherous night when death awaited him in the dark. Why? Ian told me she considered him a weakling. Weaklings were meant to die a lonely death along with their mothers who gave birth to them. All of this was an act of hate. I could assume Ian's step-mother despised his birth mother… Mothers, even though not tied by blood should be guardian angels. In this case, she was nothing more than a Devil in disguise._

_Maybe when Ian gets a new family, he could finally meet a guardian angel he craved for all these years. No more lies, no more hurtful words, no more suffering._

"_The strong shall live, the weak shall die,"_

_-Ian_

_My attention moved to Spencer; I knew fragments of his past. Spencer never had parents or even a loving home; he was brought up in an orphanage. He was teased due to his massive body structure and his lack of words. I was surprised he didn't snap at the other children but when you're a child yourself, what were you supposed to do? Find a corner and cry until all your problems disappeared? Maybe. I knew Spencer does not cry. _

_There were times when I caught Spencer gazing down, lost into his palms. Every time I looked, I didn't see anything but to Spencer, something was there. One time I walked into the men's washroom spotting Spencer washing his hands over and over with large quantities of soap. He even poured bleach on his hands to no avail; whatever that was on his palms remained there. It was only after I asked what was wrong he snapped out of his trance-like state. He shook his head, wiped his hands, leaving me to ponder his actions. I came to the conclusion if anybody was desperate enough to pour bleach on their hands; something terrible happened to them…_

"_No, I didn't do it! I didn't do it! I didn't mean to! You've got to believe me!"_

_-Spencer_

_ Lastly was Bryan whose past I have no knowledge of. Not once he spoke of his past. I assumed he doesn't remember it or things were better left unsaid. Regardless of his past, I assumed it wasn't a pretty one. He didn't need to tell me he had demons lurking within the shadows._

"_You don't need to know anything about what I did or what I've become,"_

_-Bryan_

_ I blinked again now focusing on all three of them. Maybe this was the best thing they did for themselves but then why am I so worried? Was I worried about the team being broken up? Yes. We were always a team, we were always together. We had each other; we were our own little family. We had bonds that surpassed being friends; we had bonds that allowed us to be brothers. I sighed aloud catching their attention._

"_Thinking about our departure?" Ian asked me. I nodded in response. "Don't worry about it," his eyes shifted, moving to the intricately woven rug beneath us. _

"_This was how we felt when we got news you were moving," Bryan said aloud, leaning comfortably in the couch with fingers intertwined behind his head. "We didn't know what to say or think."_

"_But we wanted you to be happy," Spencer added._

_ Happy? Right, all my life I didn't understand the word 'happy' until I found it recently with the Murins. They showed me so much love and happiness within a few days which I never received all my life. It was time for them to be happy. It was their time to shine. It was their time to smile._

_I suddenly felt bile erupting out of my stomach but I quickly swallowed it back down. I coughed, clearing my throat, "The choice was yours to make and I couldn't be more happier," I stood up eyeing them, "All our lives we were deprived of life and its infinite possibilities. We are now able to reclaim and relearn things we were once deprived of. There are many kind souls out there who wish to help us in our journey and we take their hands to guide us into the light. Men, we are here to live life to the fullest."_

Those were the last words I said to them before the clock struck midnight. I never realized how long I sat here by my window gazing out at the never-ending sea of white. I never realized wine bottles were scattered around my feet, staining the carpet in deep red. I never realized I was crying.

_They're not going anywhere, _I tried to convince myself they weren't going anywhere far. I huddled into a ball resting my forehead on my knees. It was strange to feel this way; was this the same way they felt when I announced my departure on that faithful day? Perhaps. "Why do I suddenly feel so alone?"

Why do I feel there was an air of uncertainty around me? They were going to be happy. They were going to have a family. They were going far, far away… I failed to notice the door opened with soft footsteps approaching me. I didn't look up but I felt warm arms wrapping around me. I heard her voice whispering calm words into my ear:

_Hush, little baby, don't say a word,__  
__Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird._

_If that mockingbird don't sing,__  
__Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring._

_If that diamond ring turns to brass,__  
__Mama's gonna buy you a looking glass…_

I could barely register what was going on but I recognized my mother's soft melodic voice. My heart returned to its normal pace, beating peacefully within my chest. My body didn't feel so cold anymore. I instinctively moved my hands wrapping them around Inessa. My face buried into her chest. I didn't want to let go. For all the times I didn't have anybody, right now I had everything—I had my mother.

"Shhhh…" she rocked me side to side as her hands pat my back, "Your friends will find loving families, Tala. It's their new beginning; a new chapter in their lives."

"I know but…"

"Think about all the wonderful things that can happen to them. They'll be able to spread their wings soaring with the winds of change."

Yes, yes they could. They could spread their wings flying to infinity. The sky had nothing on them; they could fly higher and higher until they touched every star in the sky, making every wish they had come true.

"You can always visit them. If they're miles away, you can go visit them. If they're in another country, you can go visit them."

"What if… what if they're too far away and I couldn't see them?" I spoke through muffled tones. I knew I sounded childish but I never experienced these feelings before. I felt like a hopeless toddler. Inessa hushed me again hugging me tighter.

"Even though they moved to the ends of the earth, you will go and visit them." She pushed me away from her chest holding my face, wiping away my tears with her thumbs, "We'll go visit them, alright? No matter how far they go, we will make sure you get to see them. After all, I think your friends will be very happy when they see you visit them, don't you agree?"

I nodded. I had to laugh, a little. I quickly wiped away the remaining tears, about to stand up but I just couldn't; my eyes fell heavy on me. My arms fell limp, falling down onto the carpet. I tried to resist the temptation to sleep but my body was against me. I fought and fought and…

"I don't cry…" I mumbled succumbing to sleep. "I don't… cry…"

"Hush," Inessa hugged my sleeping form. She placed a kiss on my forehead, "Even the strongest one of us must cry at times,"

Inessa hugged me tighter, leaning against the window with snow falling outside covering trees with white magic.

"I will make sure you can see your friends even though they're at the ends of the earth. I promise."


	6. Yuri Ivanov

**A/N: **Thanks to everybody again for reviewing my story!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**Summary: **Tala is adopted into a loving home, starting a new life but he had to his friends behind. It's not quite often blessings come in disguises but in this case, it's more than a blessing; it's a gift.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Yuri Ivanov**

How… humiliating. I ran a hand through my hair, locking eyes with my reflection, scanning up and down my lanky body frame. Underneath my eyes were hideous half circles. It didn't help when all night, I cried like a lost toddler in the department store. Ugh. How embarrassing to reveal my softer side to Inessa. Ahem, my tough image was now ruined. Clearing my throat, I caught a good sized puddle from the running tap, splashing it onto my face several times as to wash away my sins. I looked like hell and there was no way I'm going to allow to rest of my family to see me in my pathetic condition. Truth be told, I was still a bit depressed but I had to place a lid on my feelings for now; I didn't want to expose anything more troubling them.

I arrived in the living room as my blue eyes met up with Gregori's green ones. He shifted his glasses motioning me to sit. He scanned me from head to toe questioning if I was alright. I smiled weakly reassuring I was okay; slightly shaken but okay nonetheless. Inessa probably told him everything.

"You're up late," Gregori said.

I rubbed the back of my head, "Y-Yeah. Sorry I missed breakfast… dad."

Gregori shook his head, "It's fine. Inessa told me everything. Are you feeling okay?"

"Better." I wasn't going to tell him I still felt like crap. I couldn't help but notice Gregori held some important documents. Curiously I asked, "What are those?"

"Ah," he moved his eyes to them. "Documents from the adoption agency."

"Oh, I thought those papers were done."

"That's what I thought but the agency is nitpicky about small little things," Gregori sighed, removing his glasses, cleaning them with his sleeve. "All we wanted was a son but instead we got papers."

I couldn't help but laugh. Who knew? "Are there any documents that I should sign in the stack of questionable doom?"

Gregori smiled and nodded, "Indeed." He scanned through the sheets carefully until one caught his eye. Quite confused he said, "I didn't know you had another name: Yuri."

Sudden chills slid down my spine. Just the mere mention of 'Yuri' sent me down bad memory lane. I quickly shook my head. Without thinking, I snatched the document away. I ran out the hall, stormed upstairs and slammed my room shut. With the door securely sealed behind me, I walked to the window with eyes scanning the document.

"Yuri…" I said aloud my eyes fixed onto the cursed name. "Yuri…"

I've got a confession to make; my first name was Yuri. I was Yuri Ivanov. It was my father who named me. My father was once a kind soul, the man I looked up to and the man I wanted to become. I always thought I had the perfect family, y'know, with loving parents who cherished me more than treasure. I closed my eyes briefly walking down memory lane. Ah yes, I remember the sound of footsteps at the front door. When the door opened, I ran slamming into my father as he picked me up, ruffling my hair with his hand. My mother exited from the kitchen with a pot in her arm smiling at both of us. She couldn't be happier.

"_Yuri! Do you have good news for me?"_

"_Yeah!" I replied. "I got first in class again!"_

The corner of my mouth slightly tweaked into a weak smile.

"_That's great, Yuri! That's my boy!"_

He'd always say that. He was so proud of me and I was really blessed to have a father such as him. Everything was picture perfect. I wonder what went wrong. I opened my eyes. I remember now.

I stood there in my old house looking around the living room. My eyes moved to the large grandfather clock in the corner of the room; it was close to midnight.

_Any moment now…_

The door exploded with the body of my father stumbling through spilling beer onto the wooden floor. He leaned dangerously to the right with his hand pushing my great-grandmother's antique vase. He went drinking with his friends… again. I turned my head away. I remembered he began drinking right after he was dismissed from the military. Night after night he came home drunk to the core, smelling like garbage. How repulsive, I thought with narrowed eyes.

The sound of running footsteps caught my attention. I turned my head toward the wooden stairs hidden behind the corner. My mother, my beautiful mother ran down screaming at the top of her lungs, "_You! You have the nerve to come home drunk again!_" Of course my father at the time couldn't care less what my mother said. Instead he raised his fist against her beautifully sculpted face and—

"Bastard…" I clutched my fists tightly, digging my nails into the palm of my hand. "You had everything and you threw it all away!"

"Who threw what away?"

I snapped my head to the door; Calina peeked around the doorframe with a large rabbit plush in her arm. I immediately softened my death glare, quickly massaging the bridge of my nose and crouched down, getting to her level. The little girl squealed, quickly rushing to me with arms wrapped around my neck. I couldn't help but to smile whenever Calina was around; she was a little bundle of sunshine.

"And what is little Calina doing here?" I asked changing the subject.

"Calina wants to know what Tala is up to!" she said brightly.

I hid the documents in my back pocket, "Tala is staring into space. Not so exciting, huh?"

Calina looked at me with her gorgeous maroon orbs, "Tala lies! Tala was looking at something and Calina wants to know!"

Busted. I sighed. I'll make note to remove some details as I didn't want to corrupt her innocent mind.

"Come,"

I lead her to my bed, picking her up and placed her next to me. I wonder if it was a good idea to tell her about—

"So why is Tala sad?"

She caught me by surprise. Okay, how was I going to respond to this? I cleared my throat, shaking my head. I hate, I mean, I hate it when people figure out my emotions. Thinking of the right words to use for a six year old, Calina tilted her head, awaiting my response.

"Tala… I thought if you have something on your mind, you should speak your mind."

Okay, maybe she's not as simple as I thought.

"I'm sad because things from my past hurt me,"

"Why?"

I stared deep into her eyes and sighed, "I knew some people in the past that made my life miserable."

Calina's brows furrowed, scrunching her noses. "Mean people!"

"Indeed."

I watched Calina shuffle closer to me, "Do they still hurt you?"

"Somewhat,"

Calina looked at me trying to read my thoughts. She scrunched her nose again and this time, she shoved her large rabbit plush to me.

"You know, when I feel sad I always talk to Mr. Rabbit about it," she inched closer picking up my hands to hug the toy. "Go on."

I met eye to eye with Mr. Rabbit. Calina watched me intently. What was I supposed to say with Calina around let alone, me talking to an inanimate object? Ugh, this was not working; I felt like going through therapy sessions all over again.

I breathed, "Long time ago, I was known as someone else. I was known as Yuri Ivanov. I was like every other child: happy, living in a loving home and having the perfect life…"

I stopped. Perfect. Nothing was perfect. I didn't want to continue. I didn't want Calina to hear anything more. I was afraid. I was afraid things that were locked behind steel locks would explode out into the open. I wasn't willing to let that happen. I smiled weakly, returning the toy to Calina, pushing myself off the bed heading toward the window. I immediately pressed my forehead up against the cold, clear window and breathed. Deep within me I was struggling to contain my emotions. On one hand, one side of me told me to speak my mind while the other told me to keep things behind lock and key. All these memories mean nothing! I never realized as I balled my fists so tight, my nails broke skin. A trail of red liquid seeped through the cracks on my palm making their way down onto the carpet which was once mixed with crimson wine.

"Memories…"

Why do they suddenly hurt so much? Why does the past seem to hold on to me, as if trying to suffocate me? Flashes of my past erupted one by one sending me spiraling out of control into oblivion. There, in the far distance I saw an image of my father brutally disfiguring my mother's beautiful face. The screams pierced the darkness followed by laughter only a maniac could produce from the darkness of his heart. Red liquid spilled across the cold, black marbled floor…

"_Goodbye… Yuri. Mommy loves you… Stay strong. Never give… up."_

Another flash of light blinded me. With my eyes once again opened I was in my previous self back when I was fourteen. I was a monster. I was nothing more than a machine, programmed to destroy. I did what I was told without question until that faithful day…

"_Friends…?"_

Memories flooded my mind taking me back to the most recent memory: my departure. I remember it was clear as day walking into the light leaving my friends behind. I knew it wasn't the end. I knew it wasn't goodbye; I said it myself. But… the feelings inside me were about to burst. My memories took me back to when my friends told me one of them was going next? Who? Who was it?

"W-Why is everything coming to me now?" I screamed aloud clutching my hair tightly, shaking my head hoping to regain some sense. "All these memories mean _nothing!_"

"**YURI!**"

My eyes snapped open. Around me was darkness with snow falling from the sky. Where was I?

"_Hello Yuri."_

"M-Mom?"

I knew it was my _mom. _It wasn't Inessa; it was my _mom_. Turning to the left, a spotlight lit up. Beneath the warm, golden glow of the spotlight was my mother, my beautiful mother. Her blue eyes stared into my soul, reading my every thought and emotion. She stepped forward with arms extended and wrapped around me. _So…warm._ It felt oddly familiar.

"_Through dark times, you can't allow memories of your past to consume you," _she spoke quietly stroking my back.

I couldn't move; I was frozen to the spot. My arms refused to lift themselves to embrace my dear mother. I never realized how much I've missed her…

"_You've been through so much, my son."_

"You have no idea."

She pushed me an arm's length away holding me firmly by my arms. She stared into my blue eyes. _"But you kept on going forward even though at times you wanted to give up."_

"…"

"_So,"_ she said to me with a smile, stroking my cheek with her warm fingers. _"I think it's time for me to go now. Your family is waiting for you. But always remember Yuri, I'll always be watching over you."_

My eyes snapped open. My eyes met with Gregori and Calina's eyes, both fixed onto mine. A hand suddenly grazed my forehead.

"Welcome back," it was Inessa's soft voice. I slowly pushed myself up into a sitting position facing my family. "How are you feeling? We rushed here the moment Calina told us you collapsed!"

"Are you sick?" Gregori asked placing a hand on my forehead to determine whether I was ill.

Removing his hand I responded, shaking my head. "I'm fine."

Calina immediately threw herself into my arms burying her face into my chest. I heard sniffling. "Calina was scared! I thought something happened to you and you wouldn't wake up!"

Now I feel terrible. Not only did these kind folks were nice enough to adopt me and in return I gave them problems. Some son I was. I stroked my fingers through Calina's brown hair reassuring her I was fine. She looked up with tear stained cheeks. I smiled weakly wiping away tears from the corner of her eyes. I looked to Inessa and Gregori.

"Sorry."

"Hey, it's alright." Gregori ruffled my hair. "As long as you're okay, we're okay. Although you did give us a big scare!"

"I thought you bumped your head against the window when you collapsed!" Inessa quickly pulled me into a hug with her hands cradling my face. She turned my head left, right, up and down examining for bumps. "Thank goodness you're alright!"

"Yes mom, I'm fine." I muttered with my face buried in her bosom. "I can't breathe."

"Oh!" she immediately released me.

All of us sat there in silence for at least ten minutes until Calina broke the silence by shoving Mr. Rabbit into my arms. Now there was no excuse; she demanded I tell Mr. Rabbit my troubles. I caved in; I picked up the toy. I stared into its black beady eyes and in defeat, I spoke.

"This is how everything begun…"

Later that evening, no Murin was down in the dining room at six o'clock. The dining room remained vacant with the sound of the fireplace crackling in its place, flames danced alongside shadows on the red brick wall. The Christmas tree to the right glowed brightly contending with any star in the sky with colors of blue, red, green and yellow alternating in small light crystals. Melodic hums filled the room as notes escaped through the gaps of the large door, up the staircases toward the last room on left. Inside the room lay four individuals huddled together, sleeping in pure silence with Mr. Rabbit centered in the arms of their son and daughter.


	7. 11:59 PM

**A/N: **Technically this story is supposed to be done by New Years but I guess not! Thank you again to those who read (and review or not)! Thanks again for those who favorite it too ;)

I do apologize if this chapter sounds a bit _sketchy_. I couldn't focus. I still hope you like it… ish? ^^;

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**Summary: **Tala is adopted into a loving home, starting a new life but he had to his friends behind. It's not quite often blessings come in disguises but in this case, it's more than a blessing; it's a gift.

* * *

**Chapter 7: 11:59 PM**

It didn't come to my surprise when I received a phone call one day; the time had come. On that misty morning, I went down into the living room with both hands in my pockets and mind fixed. Upon arrival, I locked eyes with Ian.

"What are you doing here?"

"Spencer's flight is at midnight,"

I nodded, walking to the warmth of the crackling fireplace. Rubbing my arms together, it felt weird. My mind went round and round, thinking of Ian's words: Spencer's flight is at midnight. I'm glad he finally was going to have a family; it was something he always wished for. How did I know? Every time when we were on tour, at the corner of my eye I noticed Spencer's attention was instantly fixated on a family. I assumed within his mind, he pictured himself there, as a child in the arms of his loving parents. He may not admit it but it's written clearly on his face. He wanted a family and now, his wish came true.

"Do you know where he's going?" I asked with my back turned, eyes locked on the dancing flames.

"London, England." The sound of Ian standing up forced me to slightly turn around watching him walk around the room, examining the large portraits on the wall. Moving to the Murin portrait he said, "It's something he always wanted."

_It's something every child wants…_

"Mr. Dickenson told me this family has power and influence in England. He said the family has ties back to those who guard the Tower of London. Pretty cool, right?"

"…Yeah."

The next twenty minutes, Ian told me more about this new family; this family indeed has strong connections with the Tower of London which now in the present was a tourist destination. The father was the CEO of a big company while his wife, as rumor went was extremely beautiful. Ian couldn't describe her appearances but he mentioned her beauty almost equaled that of the Jordanian princess. The couple had no children of their own. Spencer would probably like that, being the only child.

"Hey Ian,"

"Hm?"

"What time are we going to send him off?"

"Well, he's going to be at the airport around nine o'clock for check in. We should arrive there before he does."

* * *

When the time did arrive, I couldn't stop twiddling my thumbs! Curse my fiddling! I snapped out of my thoughts when the cab came to a screeching halt. Damn pedestrians! I sighed, rubbing my temples. There was probably a dent there by now due to my worrying. Leaning against the window, we were a long way from the airport. My mind began to wonder…

_ I couldn't take my eyes off the new recruit. His presence was felt the instant he entered the room; the other kids quickly shuffled out of the room in single file while others continued their meal. Every so often they glanced over their shoulder at the new kid wondering what he might do. The tall boy walked to the farthest table in the room, sitting with authority. A loud thud echoed from his side sending vibrations around. If he thought for one minute he was going to be the dominant one here, he thought wrong. I ruled this place._

_I pushed away from the metallic table storming to him, "What's your name?" I demanded._

"…"

"_What are you, deaf? You have a name don't you or if I'm mistaken you have a, 'Hello, my name is Stupid' sticker stuck on your forehead?"_

"…_Spencer."_

"_Ah, you speak and here I thought you were mute too." I narrowed my eyes. Although he couldn't see my expression because his back was turned but he knew I meant business. "Get this straight: you are to follow my every command, do you understand?"_

"…_Yes."_

"_If that got through your thick skull then my business here is done," I stormed away. I paused for a second, turning my head. "Do __**not**__ get in my way."_

Many things happened to us over the years but we shared something in common; we minded our own business. Spencer avoided me and so did I. As mindless drones, we did everything Boris told us to do… even when it was minus out he'd force us to train until we were at the brink of death. Even so, we did it. We trained, trained, trained. I thought he was a mindless drone but then I realized; there was something more to him.

_Walking into the men's washroom one day, I spotted Spencer leaning by the sink as if he was hypnotized by the clear liquid spinning in the sink, round and round. He lifted his hands, palms faced up, eyes scanning the fractured lines on his palm. Moving his hands closer to his face, his lips moved. Just like that, his voice exploded out of his throat._

"_I didn't do it!" Spencer's voice shook. "I swear!"_

_ He didn't do what? I watched his expression in the mirror; his eyes were wide and glazed over. He was in a trance. He continued to mumble something along the lines of 'didn't do it'. With my curiosity piqued, I inched closer. Spencer snapped his head to the soap dispensing machine. As if possessed, he slammed his fist onto it. Soap exploded out landing onto the counter, into the sink and into his hands. _

_ No matter how many times he rubbed his palms together, whatever was on remained. No matter how many times he rinsed, it wasn't good enough. I watched his body shake, consumed by fear. Spencer slammed his fists against the counter._

"_No, I didn't do it! I didn't do it! I didn't mean to! You've got to believe me!"_

_ He hastily reached under the counter for a bleach bottle. He quickly uncapped it, poured the foul smelling liquid into his palms. _

_ I stood there staring at him trying desperately to get rid of something on his palms. Maybe it was about time I intervened._

_I emerged from the corner, walking to him, "What are you doing?"_

_ He stopped. Spencer shook his head, blinking a couple of times realizing where he was and what he was doing. Without a word, he gathered the remaining soap into his hands, he washed them again, this time properly, rinsed and walked right by me. My head followed him as he walked out the door._

"_What was that all about?"

* * *

_

I opened my eyes. I realized we were in the middle of traffic, inching like snails. I quickly glanced over to my wristwatch; it was already fifteen minutes past nine!

"Hey!" I leaned forward to the cab driver. "How much longer until we reach the airport?"

My response? He shrugged. Dammit! I quickly rolled down the windows which instead dumped snow into my lap. I stuck my head outside. My eyes grew large when I saw smoke at the end of the highway.

"Brilliant," I mumbled returning my head back into the safety of the cab. _Of all times to have an accident it's now!_

My situation did _not_ improve when my driver who apparently was obsessed with American pop music cranked the volume to ear bleeding levels. Here I sat at the back of the cab grouchy, annoyed, pissed off—you name it.

"Screw this!"

I couldn't stand this anymore! The music, the bad singing, the awful attempts of dancing in the driver's seat and the traffic! Reaching into my jacket, I pulled out my wallet, grabbed some cash and stuffed it to the cab driver. This was one of my most insane ideas but I rather freeze my _ass_ off in the blizzard than listening to his awful, out of tune singing to whoever Kesha was.

So was this one of my best ideas? No. I walked down the highway with Spencer's gift close to my chest, shielding it from the storm. Taking another step forward, I heard a loud crunch sound.

_The hell?_

Apparently while in deep thought, I walked right into the bushes. A strong gush of wind stopped me momentarily. My teeth were chattering nonstop, my ears were half frozen, my nose no longer existed and why the hell am I walking in this godforsaken blizzard storm? Well never mind that, at least I'm on the move. I hope I could make it in time to see Spencer off…

* * *

The long arm of the clock struck eleven o'clock. I _finally _made it to the airport pass traffic. It took me two, _two_ bloody hours walking on the highway! God, I truly was insane. Any normal person would just sit in their car and wait. Now was not the time to catch my breath! Dusting snow off my shoulder and Spencer's gift, I quickly made my way to terminal number twenty five. My legs screamed at me to stop, even for a moment but I refused. _There was no time, _I reminded myself. If I didn't see Spencer off, I couldn't forgive myself. I ran and ran, racing against the clock. While I ran, I unfortunately ran into a security guard.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" he asked me. I noticed his eyes locked onto the package I had in my hands.

"I need to get to terminal twenty five," I responded quickly, catching my breath.

He eyed me suspiciously and the package but didn't continue interrogating me. "Terminal twenty five is on the other side of the airport. Right now you're in terminal twenty six to fifty."

_You're kidding me, right?_ I stared at him hoping I just heard wrong. I ran all this way for _nothing?_

In times like this, I wished I read the terminal signs. Now what was I supposed to do? It was now eleven fifteen. I knew I had to quickly rush but my legs were sore as hell. Every muscle in my body burned. Rubbing my temples, I frowned until a question struck me.

"Is it possible to delay the flight?"

"What?"

Lifting the package up I said, "See here? I need to get this to my friend before he leaves!"

He security guard shook his head, "Sorry kid, can't do that."

The moment the security guard turned his back, I bolted to the nearest information desk. Without thinking, I leaned over, snatching the microphone.

"**SPENCER!**" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "**STAY PUT! DON'T YOU DARE GET ON THAT PLANE!**"

"**HEY KID, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?**"

Time to bolt! I dashed from the information center through the sea of people, luggage, food and coffee. I didn't care! I needed to get this to him! From behind, I heard the sound of the screaming security guard demanding me to stop. Yeah, like that was going to happen.

With every exhaled breath, my lungs felt like they were set on fire. The heat coursed through my lungs, exiting my mouth. I stopped for a breather and to my luck, it was terminal twenty five. I quickly glanced at my wristwatch; I still had time! My eyes glanced up and there, by the large glass panels was Spencer. His arms were crossed with his back turned to me.

"You're late,"

Indeed I was. Quickly looking over my shoulder, the pesky security guard was nowhere to be seen. I could only conclude he either gave up or called for reinforcements. Shaking my head, I hoped it wasn't the latter. Either way, here I was, ready to send my friend off, wishing him the best.

"I'm sorry for being late," I began. I felt like I was giving excuses justifying why I was late in the first place when I was supposed to be here hours ago. "Accident on the highway."

Silence. Just like Spencer to not reply. I could understand if he was annoyed by my tardiness. Earlier today I promised Ian would come here early…

"Where's Ian?"

"He left an hour ago,"

"Oh…"

With the clock ticking by every second, my attempts to converse proved futile; every time words hung at the edge of my lips, they instantly rolled back into my throat. I was never good at goodbyes in the first place. There was an unmistakable silence between us; the sounds around us faded.

Time seemed to have stopped until—

"_Final call for passengers travelling to London, England. I repeat: Final call for passengers travelling to London, England."_

Spencer turned around meeting me eye to eye. His hand moved into his shirt pocket pulling out an envelope.

"Here," he handed it to me.

"What is this?"

"Something that you should know,"

I nodded. Placing the crème envelop into my jacket, I turned my attention to the gift in my hands. My arms stretched out to Spencer giving him the gift.

"And this is?"

"Gifts from my family to you. As for me... _I don't know what to say._"

The sound of another announcement startled me; I never realized I stared at the orange carpet for at least five minutes thinking of things to say. I quickly looked up and Spencer stood in front of me with luggage by his side. He stuck out his hand and I returned the hand shake.

Shaking my head, I forced on a smile for him, "It's not goodbye,"

Spencer nodded. "Indeed. We will meet again… friend."

At eleven fifty-nine PM, I watched Spencer walk through the glass doors disappearing out of sight. I walked to the leather couch pulling out the envelope. Carefully ripping the side off, I discarded the small strip of paper to the side, pulling out its contents. Unfolding it, I carefully read what Spencer wrote:

_For all the things I've done in the past, this was one I didn't commit._

_One day at the orphanage I saw a little boy sitting in a bloodied heap, coughing, gasping for air. I remembered each graphic detail; the boy suffered severe cuts to his arms and legs while his neck had purple bruises on it. Looking at him, I thought he was going to die right before my eyes. Red liquid trickled from his lips, staining his clothes and onto the floorboards. I went to help the child but I wasn't sure what to do; instead of propping him up against the wall, I laid him down forcing him to drown in his own blood._

_That day, my hands were stained red. All fingers pointed to me, accusing me of killing the child. I was accused of murder. I tried to justify my innocence; I was condemned over and over. I was innocent!_

_Shunned into the snow, I stained it red with guilt._

_This is my story. This is something that will live with me for the rest of my life; through smiles, laughter, tears and anger… it'll never go away. But… with a new life waiting for me, I wish to forget all my miseries and for once in my life, I can enjoy the small things in life without guilt._

_This will be my new reality._


	8. The Last Departure

**A/N: **I thank you again for reading this

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**Summary: **Tala is adopted into a loving home, starting a new life but he had to his friends behind. It's not quite often blessings come in disguises but in this case, it's more than a blessing; it's a gift.

* * *

**Chapter 8: The Last Departure**

A week later, Ian's time arrived. I personally drove him to the airport listening to him describe where he was going and who adopted him. Listening to him, he was undoubtedly excited about the new family. They were known as the Flores family. Ian informed me the father was a stay at home business man, running his own company while his wife ran an extensive network of floral shops. They have an older daughter who was twenty five, managing her own real estate company. Ian grinned widely every time he spoke of them; I knew they would be good people. I noticed he couldn't stop talking about his soon to be mother. Deep down in his heart, Ian always wanted a loving mother.

Arriving at the airport he gave me his new address. I couldn't stop staring at the yellow post-it note in my hand. So, he was moving to Madrid, Spain. I watched Ian at the corner of my eye placing his luggage into carts, moving them through the automatic doors. Strangely, this felt different from the time I sent off Spencer. Maybe this time I redeemed myself on being there for my friend without the worse happening to me. This time I'm able to stand side by side until it was his time to go.

"Tala, are you okay?"

I looked down meeting Calina's eyes. I nodded, putting on a weak smile.

"I'm fine, little one."

Calina nodded and ran to Irene. I still don't understand why Gregori sent Irene to come with us. Pinching the area between my eyes, I didn't care anymore…

We had exactly two hours to kill before Ian's four forty-five flight to Madrid. We sat at the waiting area playing silly games like, 'I Spy'. Slightly irritated, I excused myself to the coffee shop, ordering a cup of black coffee. Rubbing the side of my face, I thought to myself, _was sending someone off made you feel this miserable?_ Running my hand through my hair, I released a sigh.

Hearing the sound of clicking heels from behind I snapped, "What do you want?"

"Is there something wrong, Master Ivanov?"

"Nothing that concerns you,"

"…I see." Irene sighed. "I may be speaking out of line but you should really cheer your friend up. Since this morning, you've done nothing but act very child-like. Selfish even."

I snapped my head to her. Unknowingly, I instinctively squeezed the coffee cup in my hand as scorching, hot liquid exploded onto my hand and onto the carpet below. Irene didn't flinch; her eyes were as cold as ice, matching mine. She was right; I knew I was acting childish. It was without question I was slightly annoyed from Ian not informing me of his departure. Telling me yesterday was unacceptable! I barely got over the fact Spencer left and now Ian was going to disappear into the wind as well? I was their leader! I demand to know _everything_. My attention moved to Calina and Ian who immediately stopped playing their petty games the moment I crushed the Styrofoam cup. Everybody's gaze fell on me, questioning my actions.

Irene was about to speak until I cut her off, "Enough. Not another word."

She bowed, retreating to Ian and Calina. Emotions ran through my mind questioning my actions toward my friend, my family and my maid. Shaking my head, I wasn't sure what I was doing! I took me years to put a lid on my emotions, keeping them in check. Exploding like this was unacceptable.

* * *

For the next hour and a half, we sat in silence, listening to the sounds of the airport and flight announcements. The sound of adults crying unnerved me; some of it was tears of joy as others were tears of sorrow. Why would they cry, I wondered? It's not like their loved ones would be sent off to the ends of the earth. Technology was advanced enough for online idle chat. I turned my head again laying eyes on a group of girls sending off one of their friends. I observed as each girl hugged her friend one by one whispering 'Good luck'. Tears slid down their cheeks as one of the girls moved away from the main group, wiping tears away with her sleeve. One of the girls approached the girl with a large teddy bear in hand with a note attached to it.

"Have a safe trip," the girl read. She looked up at each of her friends thanking them from the bottom of her heart. "Thank you, my friends. We will meet again!"

I had enough; I turned around back to my group glancing at the large porcelain clock. We still had a complete hour to spare.

Time was cruel; with its quickened pace, Ian's time finally arrived. I could barely bring myself to stand up and face him. I know, I acted like a complete jackass earlier when today I could have been more supportive. Without my knowledge, Calina pulled me up to face Ian. Heh, I could tell he was slightly hurt by my actions.

I closed my eyes and breathed, "Ian,"

"I know what you're about to say," Ian interrupted. "I know you didn't mean to be like this, I know," I watched Ian's hand disappear into his coat jacket pulling out a white envelope. There was a small bulge from inside. "Here are the house keys just in case you wanted to visit."

I raised an eyebrow. Ian's words puzzled me. "Wanted to visit you say?"

He nodded. Placing his bags down, he looked up at me with a sheepish look. "I guess it's time for me to come clean."

"What are you talking about?"

"Remember when you asked me this morning why Bryan didn't come?"

"Well, yes."

"It's because he's not here anymore." Ian looked me in the eyes. "He told me not to tell you until I'm about to leave. He didn't want you to be worried and… he didn't like goodbyes anyway."

My fists tightened. _Son of a—_

Scratching the back of his head, Ian continued, "Bryan got accepted into a university in Canada. He didn't say where but he'll contact you when the 'time is right', and I quote that. Bryan left yesterday at five-thirty AM."

I lowered my head. This was nice, I thought sarcastically. All my friends left my side. Why don't they tell me anything? Don't they… trust me? I had a thought assuming they did this because I was the one who left first. True, I never spoke of the matter until it was at least a week before my timed departure. I knew they didn't take it very well but they supported me, regardless of the situation. Shouldn't I support them too?

"_Passengers boarding flight to Madrid, Spain please have your boarding pass ready. Gates will be opened in ten minutes. I repeat…"_

We looked at each other for a moment, reading each other's expressions. My eyes softened knowing Ian was about to walk through that gate and to his new life. To his new family… to parents who were willing to shower him with unconditional love. Ian glanced over his shoulder watching the gates slowly open as passengers lined up.

"I'll be seeing you," he said sticking out his hand. I tried finding any uncertainty in his voice but came up with nothing. He had no regrets. I shook his hand in return, slightly smiling.

"Sorry for being such a jerk," I said. "It's still all just—"

"It's fine. It's the way you are. I don't expect you to change so suddenly," Ian smiled.

Ian removed his hand from mine. Instantly, Calina leaped onto Ian knocking him down.

"Calina will miss Ian!" she buried her face into the crook of his neck.

Ian's face reddened, "I'll miss you too."

"Really?" she quickly got off, pulling him to his feet and attack hugged.

Ian got onto his knees holding Calina's shoulders tightly, "I promise I'll write to you." Glancing over Calina's shoulder, he spoke to Irene, "If it's not any trouble, can you please read my letters to her?"

"Gladly!"

Ian got up, dusting his suit. Turning his attention to me he said, "All our wishes came true: yours, mine, Spencer and Bryan's. For the things we never had, right now it's a blessing to have it all. And Captain, no, Tala, never forget we're always here for you no matter how far we are. Remember us."

Picking up his luggage he walked to the line without any hesitation in his strides. He waved goodbye to us, glancing over his shoulder one last time before disappearing behind revolving glass doors. I turned my attention to Irene, apologizing for my actions.

"It's alright," Irene said warmly. "Let's head home, shall we?"

I never expected her to reach out her hand and embraced mine. At the corner of my eye I noticed Calina's widening grin. We walked hand in hand back to the car without a single word exchanged. Maybe she thought I was having trouble coping with my friend's sudden departures and it was her duty to calm me down. Maybe… well, that was the only conclusion I came up with.

* * *

Arriving at the house, I solemnly greeted my parents before I walked up the stairs, pass the hall of portraits and arrived in my room. With a gentle click, I removed my coat, placing it on the coat stand, pulling out the envelope Ian gave me. Ripping the envelope, I tipped it; a set of silver keys fell into the palm of my hand followed by… a photograph? It was an old, sepia toned Polaroid of us four, standing together in front of our house. There were absolutely no smiles on our faces.

"Look at how much we've changed," I said quietly, observing everybody's expressions. "Look at how much we've grown…"

I walked to the window and leaned by it. I forgot this photograph existed. Moving my eyes around, I saw empty box on one of the shelves. Pushing away from the window, I approached the shelf, removing the box from it; it was a photo frame.

_How convenient._

Pulling out the photo frame, it was made from brass. The metallurgy was exquisite; the designs were constructed in a floral pattern twisting and turning, similar to an art nouveau piece produced by Alphonse Mucha. Removing the back, I placed the Polaroid in then sealing it. I moved to my table placing it down next to my laptop.

_I wonder if anybody's online…_

Switching it on, I sat down with fingers tapping the arm rest. Since everybody's departure I felt things were different; the feeling of isolation grew. Glancing over to the photo frame, I looked at everybody's stoic expressions. My eyes moved to the house keys beside it.

"I wonder if I should go back to the house?" I questioned.

There was nothing left in that house except fragmented memories. I was snapped out of my daze hearing a distinct 'ding' from my laptop. My eyes scanned the sound's origin.

[You have 5 new messages in your inbox]

Hastily I accessed my inbox with high expectations of receiving emails from my friends. My smile turned into a frown the moment I saw spam. Just before I was about to log off, I heard another 'ding' sound. My blue eyes locked onto the subject title: HIYAAAAA! That meant only one moron. I read the message:

_Hi Tallie!_

_Sorry for not saying anything about me leaving since I knew you'd kill me. So, Ian probably told you by now that I'm in Canada right? I just got here and it's cold! Well, not as cold as Moscow but I'll live. Right now I'm in Toronto! Awesome city, I tell ya! So many pretty girls and—_

I just _stared_ at the email. I really felt like flying over there and kicking him so hard, he couldn't sit for days! Albeit, his email brought a smile to my face knowing he's happy. I continued reading the email and viewing the pictures attached to it. Maybe it didn't come as a surprise most of the pictures were of girls from his classroom or pub… I was glad to see Bryan took pictures of other things in Toronto as well: CN Tower, Drake Hotel, Hockey Hall of Fame and so forth. Heh, I guess he wasn't as closed minded as I thought. I think I remember Bryan telling me vaguely he wanted to try and play hockey. Good luck with that.

* * *

I spent the rest of my afternoon replying his emails and by surprise; I got an email from Spencer as well. It seemed both were doing extremely well in their new environments, adapting properly. Spencer sent me pictures of his new family and it came as a shock how _beautiful_ Spencer's adoptive mother was. Just as Ian put it, he couldn't describe her beauty and now, I think I knew why. Attached to the email were pictures of London itself, mainly images of Big Ben, River Thames, The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and the shopping districts. I was excited to see a picture of Spencer and his parents in front of Big Ben.

"He's smiling."

Yes, Spencer was smiling. Leaning back into my chair, I guess I worried too much about them. Thoughts erupted in my head one by one thinking about my friends. During the time we've been together, I've been extremely protective of them. To let them go was… difficult.

'_KNOCK, KNOCK'_

"Who is it?"

"Irene,"

I heard the door creak open listening to Irene's footsteps approach me. She stood next to me with a large wooden tray in her hands.

Placing down a teacup she asked, "Would you like some Darjeeling tea?"

I nodded. I watched her pour in the orange-golden liquid into the porcelain cup. I could not describe the aroma filling my head. Now I understood why this particular tea was highly sought after during the era of British imperialism in India.

Placing the teapot back onto the tray, I quickly snatched her hand. Her hand immediately tensed from my grasp.

"Y-Yes?"

I made sure this time I didn't mean any harm to her. My grip softened, allowing her to move her wrist freely within my grasp. I stood up and without thinking, I removed the tray from her hands. Holding her hands again I looked at her straight in the eyes, "I'm sorry for my actions earlier. I was out of place. Forgive me."

All she did was smile. Although she didn't say a word, her smile was proof enough, telling me she had forgiven me. I was a fool, acting out of selfishness. Removing her hands from mine, she picked up the tray and left. Again by myself, I felt my cheeks turn red.

Running a hand through my hair I cleared my throat, "That was embarrassing."

Walking to the window I noticed snow began to fall. One by one, the white substance danced with the wind spinning from left to right. Things fell quiet around me; not even a single sound was heard.

I pressed my hand into the window watching the heat spread from my hand and onto the window. _I think I'll invite Irene to the house tomorrow. _

And without thinking, I did just that. After supper, I located Irene in the maids' quarters. She was folding laundry, humming a song to herself oblivious to my presence.

"Irene."

Startled, she dropped the folded table cloth. Spinning around, we were inches away from each other's faces. Her face turned red as she quickly diverted her eyes from mine. Picking up the cloth she spoke, almost in a squeak.

"Y-Yes?"

Rubbing the back of my neck I asked, "Would you like to come to my old house tomorrow?"

She stopped. Standing up, her beautiful, sapphire-like eyes met mine. Her lips curved upwards into a small smile and nodded. It was extremely rude of me to stare at her, absorbing her features; she almost looked too similar to my mother, features that only angels possess. Shaking my head out of the clouds, I apologized for gawking at her. This wasn't like me.

"I-I'll be going now,"

As I walked out the door, I heard Irene resuming humming her song. Closing the door behind me, I made my way through the house; my mind fixed on tomorrow's outing. Walking up the stairs, I had no clue why I invited Irene. I stopped at the top of the stairs thinking about my actions. I've changed a lot. Since I arrived at the Murin household my demeanor changed for the better; I began accepting people, opening my heart and learning to smile. Accepting new people in my life was probably my biggest accomplishment I gained but in the same time, losing friends was a new feeling I had to deal with. I always had to remind myself they were going to better places, to a better life, leaving everything behind.

"And leaving me behind…" my hand pressed against my pounding heart thinking of tomorrow. "I'm almost afraid to walk through those doors again."

I turned my attention to the hall of portraits asking them, "What should I do?" The happy faces in the portraits provided me with no response. Of course, it was expected from inanimate objects. I stuffed my hands in my pockets; I walked down the silent hallway listening to the sound of my footsteps coming in contact with a 1920's Persian rug. Arriving at the window, a blanket of white shielded me from the outside world, forcing me to understand, to question my own feelings: my wants and needs.

"I want my friends to be happy. I want them to live their lives the way they want to… but what are my needs?"


	9. Take Me Home

**A/N: **Sorry this chapter is a little late. It's waaay overdue! I hope you like it ;)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**Summary: **Tala is adopted into a loving home, starting a new life but he had to his friends behind. It's not quite often blessings come in disguises but in this case, it's more than a blessing; it's a gift.

* * *

**Chapter 9: Take Me Home**

_It was moments like this the world stood still._

Standing in front of the structure which was once known as 'home' I gazed into its ghostly windows expecting to see a figure walk pass, shattering the silence within. Everything seemed to change the moment I arrived here; the house seemed lonely, absorbed by the layers of snow. Our nicely trimmed bushes were no longer visible nor the cobblestone steps that lead visitors to the front door. Nobody lived here, not even ghosts. I reached into my pocket pulling out the set of silver keys and inserted them into the brass lock. With a distinctive click, I gently pushed the gate open. Making my way through the foot of snow, I reached the front door. I inhaled one last time before I unlocked the door and entered.

The ambience within the mansion was different; my eyes scanned around the room to the tables, chairs and furniture all covered in layers of plastic. Placing the keys on the side table, I ventured forward to the living room. There, three sets of couches were placed in front of the east wall, in front of a dead fireplace. On the table was old coffee rings made by yours truly. Laughing to myself I did what any good person would do, I pulled out a handkerchief and removed the stains. My actions caught the attention of Irene, who stood by the door watching me intently with her blue eyes. I heard her walk to me.

Without looking at her I said, "I don't know what I'm doing," I admit, I was lost on what _to_ do.

Irene approached closer to me placing a firm hand on my shoulder. I snapped around and was greeted by her smile. "Well, as starters you can tour me around the house. Maybe that way you can remember why you're here."

Nodding, I complied. Maneuvering away from the table, I lead Irene into our kitchen. Ah, the kitchen. The kitchen was more like a warzone, truth be told. I could _not_ recall how many times we broke the stove, fridge, toaster, counter, the other fridge, chairs, tables, pots and pans; you name it. The kitchen suffered the most since at times we warred like crazy drunks… which we were at times. The moment vodka entered the kitchen… the kitchen resulted being destroyed. I laughed to myself; I could not remember how many times we fixed it only to have it destroyed, again.

I pointed to the ceiling, "See that black patch there? That was when Ian tried to make stir fry. He fried the ceiling instead…"

Irene laughed. The thought of Ian trying to cook amused her. I told her the only person responsible for the meals was Spencer. He was the only person who could legitimately cook without accidentally poisoning us. I wouldn't trust Bryan to cook even if it meant starvation. Sure I cooked but every time I did it, I got complaints on how the meat wasn't done right or some other nonsense I chose to ignore.

Next, I pointed to the fridge, "That fridge saw lots through the years," I said walking up to it, pulling the door open. To my surprise there was a box of chocolates inside, untouched. Removing the box I continued, "This door here has been ripped off at least three times by Spencer."

"How'd that happen?" Irene asked, walking to a nearby chair and sat crossed legged.

"I could only assume Bryan pissed of Spencer pretty bad that day. Personally I've never seen Spencer mad let alone, furious." I replied, sitting at the table across from her.

"Oh, I see. So…" Irene moved her eyes to the fridge door. "He tore it out?"

"I guess so," I said popping a piece of chocolate into my mouth. "I know that when I returned home that night, Bryan stayed twenty feet away from Spencer."

We sat in silence for ten minutes. I was too busy absorbed in my surroundings remembering the few good times we shared in the kitchen. I blinked and just like that, I saw my friends sitting around the table eating breakfast. I looked to my left spotting Ian talking to me but I couldn't decipher his words. All I knew was he was laughing about something before he returned to eating his meal.

_I remember this…_

In front of me was Bryan, drinking his cup of coffee with toast smothered in strawberry jam on the side. I watched the confusion on his face as he tried deciphering the contents of the newspaper.

"_The hell is this?" Bryan asked. He pulled the newspaper close to his eye then pulled it away. Turning the newspaper upside down he hoped to decode it. "I don't get it."_

"_Stocks Bryan," Spencer replied slicing a piece of ham. "Something that you wouldn't understand."_

"_Oh yeah?" Bryan slammed the newspaper in the middle of the table. Turning to Ian he demanded, "Tell me what stocks are!"_

_Ian immediately stuffed toast into his mouth avoiding the demands all together. Bryan looked forward, locking his eyes with me._

"_Are you going to tell me, Tallie?"_

Snapping out of my daze, the mist in front of me disappeared only to be replaced by free floating dust. Shaking my head out of the clouds, I just witnessed hallucinations. Damn.

"Let's go," I said sternly, pushing away from the table.

We left the kitchen, back into the hall leading Irene upstairs. The hallway was vacant, not even a single photograph or painting in sight. I noticed there was a large white, rectangular spot on the wall. Hmmm… It seemed there used to be a frame there. Wracking the back of my brain, for the life of me I couldn't remember what that frame held.

We continued walking down the hallway, heading toward my room. I reached out to the doorknob and turned it slightly. With a light click, the door opened. Never in a thousand years had I imagine I would be in here again, where it all began. I saw myself sitting at the window sill, fingers tracing the frost.

"Master?"

The image of my ghostly self dissipated as Irene walked toward that very same window.

"Is this where it all began?" she questioned with her back turned. "Is there where you chose to live your life with the Murins?"

"Yes,"

Walking to my table, I noticed a white envelope. Seriously, did they all leave me envelopes to read when they had the chance to speak up? I sighed, flipped the paper over and surely enough, it was Bryan's envelope. I contemplated the contents inside it; he probably wrote something along the lines of sorry that he didn't tell me earlier in doubt I would have maimed him. Which I would have, of course. Ripping the envelope open, I read:

_Hey Tallie-Puppy!_

_What's up? Sooooo, by the time you're reading this I'm in the Great White North! Cool, EH? (Canadians use 'Eh' so I thought I'd give it a try!) So yeah, probably by now you saw the chocolates in the fridge. I was gonna bring them here but I forgot… Yeah. Um, what else should I write? Please don't kill me when you see me?_

_Oh yeah, you never gave me Irene's number!_

I'm going to kill that idiot! Crushing the letter and stuffing it in my pocket, I sighed aloud. Maybe coming back here wasn't the best idea after all. Excusing myself, I headed out into the hallway to catch my breath. Slowly, memories returned to me one by one watching mist in the distance manifesting into my friends. Down the hallway I saw Ian walking down with a novel in his hands. I watched him walk right through me and into his room. I followed, opening his door. I was shocked by the state his room was in; it was _clean_. Heck, the last time I entered this blasted room I tripped, fell and face planted into his stack of novels. Curse those books!

His bed was neatly made, pushed up against the wall with a thick layer of plastic placed over it. Cautiously I entered as if I was avoiding the non-existent stack of novels. It was habit. I made my way to his empty bookshelves until my eyes caught onto a photo album. Strange, I don't recall him having one. On the spine of the album, Ian wrote: _Open this at home_. I nodded in response, tucking the photo album under my arm. Taking one good look around Ian's room, I bowed and left.

The next room I went to was Spencer's, which was at the end of the hallway. This was actually the first time I entered his room. Taking a deep breath, I entered. I never expected it to be so _tidy, _well maybe that was an understatement; it was Spencer we're talking about here. Something at the corner caught my attention; I moved to the fishbowl.

"Spencer… what is this?" I asked tapping the bowl. I lowered myself, now eye to eye with the fish. "You forgot… your goldfish?"

How it survived all this time, I had no clue knowing Bryan probably took care of it by over-feeding it. Whatever. Inside the fishbowl was a small ceramic plaque etched in large, black bold letters: **SEABORG**. Wow. I wasn't sure what else to say or think; did _everybody_ leave behind a piece of themselves for me? I lowered my head at the thought; it was a possibility. Maybe it was a way for me to remember them… keeping them close to my heart.

"What a fool I am,"

Last but not least, Bryan's room. I swore to myself the day we moved into this mansion I was never to tread in the forbidden land. Who knew what Bryan's room held? Holding my breath, I unlocked the door and entered…

My first thoughts coming to mind: "I'm going to slaughter you, Kuznetsov."

How self-absorbed could one moron be? Plastered on his walls were posters of… himself. Feeling my stomach turn, if this was a joke, I'm not laughing! Around his room, I lost count on how many posters of him were there. Sure there were group posters of us but… god, this was creepy! There was his dumb biography as well! I made note of when I _do_ come to Canada, Kuznetsov would be nothing more than a bleeding pulp! I do hope that moron didn't leave anything for—shit, he did! He gave me a headache and a purpose to murder the bloody idiot!

"Ah, there you are," I snapped my head around meeting eye to eye with Irene. Immediately her eyes moved around the room, absorbing the 'Bryan-ness overload'. "Oh dear."

"I'm sorry that you have to witness this atrocity," I said, narrowing my eyes. "Let's go. Staying here gives me the creeps."

* * *

Returning home, my parents stared at Irene and I like we each grew two heads. In Irene's arms was Spencer's fishbowl and fish food while I carried Ian's photo album and Bryan's box of chocolates (and yes, I still wanted to murder that moron!).

Inessa approached us with a smile, "I see you two enjoyed yourselves."

I grunted and replied, "Not… as much I hoped to, mom."

Her blue eyes looked at the items we brought home. "So these are things your teammates left behind?" And she giggled, "They're quite odd, don't you think?"

I nodded. Excusing myself, I instructed Irene to follow me to my room. We walked up the stairs in silence, turning right and continued walking down the hall of portraits. Entering my room, I instructed Irene to place down the fishbowl on my table while I threw the rest of the items on my bed. Going back I thought would bring back some _good _memories but instead, I left with a headache. Brilliant. Emitting a loud sigh, I pinched the area between my eyes in frustration. I'm not sure what else to think…

"Master?" I looked up. "You seem quite distracted,"

How could I _not_ be? I went there to remember the good times we shared. Clearing my throat I said, "I am. How much madness can one person take?"

My eyes locked onto the fishbowl, the photo album and the box of chocolates. All remnants—reminders of them.

"Memories…" I said aloud.

Now that I thought carefully about it, I realized the things they left behind were things they cherished most. Spencer always told me when he got a goldfish he would name it Seaborg. At the time I thought he was joking but coming face to face with the evidence, he wasn't lying. Ian told me he loved photography; every time we went out, Ian brought along his camera taking pictures of people, landscapes, animals—everything! I never understood the fascination but it began to dawn on me. When he took pictures he always walked behind us… In a general sense, I hate taking photos but Ian kept on insisting it, so I agreed. Lastly, there was Bryan. I knew he was a sweet tooth and to leave behind a box of chocolates like that was… uncharacteristic of him. Not in a million years would he forget his beloved chocolates, especially ones with caramel filling.

"Morons…" I lowered my head. _God, I hate you all…_

"Hey," I met up with Irene's eyes once again. I saw her smile. "Why don't you open the photo album and take a look?"

She sat next to me picking up the album, placing it in my shaking hands. Breathing in, I opened the album. Just like that, my eyes locked onto the first photo; it was picture of all of us laughing.

_When did he take this?_ I thought as my finger traced the edge of the photograph. _Wait a minute; this was from the party. Who took—?_

I turn my head to Irene who continued to smile. "I took that picture," she said, eyes cast down to the photograph. "To see you happy with your friends—to see you smile…"

_Da-thump!_

"I know about your past," Irene said. She stood up and stretched walking to the window, looking up toward the silent heavens. "Your friends told me about it. After hearing it through their eyes, I could barely contain the heartache. All those times, you were alone but you always had friends by your side. They were your family."

I was lost for words, unsure of what to say. Instead, I continued listening to Irene.

"At the time you didn't realize it but over the years, you guys had bonds so strong, they were unbreakable. Not even the strongest of us could break it. Those bonds were stronger than steel; nobody could bend it." She paused, bringing her hands together, locking them tight. "Now that they left one by one… they left pieces of themselves for you to remember the good times you shared. You may not remember them but I'm sure they're there."

How could one person read me like a book this well?

"Cracks slowly appeared but you tried your best to conceal them from us—your family and from yourself. You couldn't believe it but… didn't they tell you they'll _always _be by your side even though they're gone?"

I didn't know what to say; she relayed my thoughts feelings in front of me. All this time I was hiding what I truly felt…

"But right now you have everything a person needs, Master: a home, a family and friends who love and care for you." She turned around, smiling at me. "Am I right?"

"I…"

'_Ding-dong!'_

The sudden sound of the doorbell interrupted us. I heard my mother's voice calling me to the front door. Running down the carpeted stairs, Inessa turned around smiling at me.

"You have a visitor,"

I tilted my head slightly and cautiously approached the door. It was that moment my blood froze.

"Kai?"


	10. Small Talk

**A/N: **Thank you everybody for the loving and encouraging reviews. Your words and kindness is the fire which pushes me forward to write this story from my heart. I cannot thank you guys enough! You guys are great, you truly are ;)

So this chapter is basically about nothing. I barely had any ideas so please bear with me ^_^;; and thanks to **Desastrus** for kicking my ass, lol.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**Summary: **Tala is adopted into a loving home, starting a new life but he had to his friends behind. It's not quite often blessings come in disguises but in this case, it's more than a blessing; it's a gift.

* * *

**Chapter 10: Small Talk**

"So, this is your new home."

"Uh huh,"

Could this possibly be true? Were my eyes deceiving me or was this a cruel illusion? I could barely focus my attention onto one of my best friends, sitting across from me with his eyes shut and legs crossed. Sitting across from me was Kai Hiwatari, one of the closest people coming to me during a time when I lost my own friends. I wondered if it was a sign for good things to come... Hmmm... I reached out to the porcelain teacup only to have him speak.

"So, they left,"

My fingers recoiled from the teacup. Leaning back, I released a sigh running my hand through my hair. I didn't want to think about it.

"Stanley told me about it," Kai continued opening an eye. "It all started with you."

"What? What does that mean?"

"Relax, I'm not saying it's a bad thing..."

I narrowed my eyes giving him my distinct glare, "And do why all of a sudden I feel guilty?"

"I meant that as a good thing," Kai stood up moving his hands into his trousers, walking to the window. "Since you made the first move, the rest followed... to gain a better life."

"So what you're saying is that if I didn't decide to get adopted then they wouldn't have done the same?"

"Maybe, who knows but I knew that sooner or later, you guys will walk separate paths. At this age, all of us are attending universities, are we not? Blading is now not our priority. We now have lives to live."

It was the truth; blading was now _not _the top priority. Shaking my head, I stood up and made my way next to him. I knew what he said was true; I started university a week ago and that's where the next step of life began. This was life.

Socializing with new people was still something I'm learning, taking baby steps at a time. I'm still weary of people and what they think about me but I shouldn't let such petty matters get under my skin. It didn't help when people at the university recognized me. However, let's just say I made it _very_ clear that I was one who should be left alone regardless of my celebrity status. Right as of this moment, I was a normal teenager attending university, just like the rest of humanity. What do I have to look forward this year? Ah yes, the possibility of learning how to do group work, excel in academic studies, make new _friends_ and perhaps gain a life... Why must the human condition be so complicated?

"So why exactly are you here?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to see this new life of yours before I go back to mine."

"Ah yes," I dryly replied. "You got accepted into Brown, didn't you? Or was it Yale?"

Typical of him to not reply. I sighed and walked back to the velvet couches. Glancing over to the grandfather clock in the corner, the long arm of the clock struck twelve signalling it was now three o'clock. It was on days like this when I time was reduced to crawling. Tilting my head back, my eyes fixed onto the ceiling; my eyes scanned the intricately carved floral spectacle in front of me while my mind brewed with questions.

Suddenly, several knocks echoed. The golden doorknob turned and Calina entered, well, more like exploded into the room. As usual, the young girl squealed the moment she saw me and rushed toward me, throwing herself right into my lap. Good lord, every time she leapt on me I swore she continued getting heavier. By this rate, I'll be flattened! The little girl giggled before telling me all the things she did in school. I nodded with everything she said until she paused, took in a deep breath and continued without realizing I had company. Well, if you could consider it company.

"How was Tala's day?" she asked brightly snuggling into me.

Good lord, I couldn't stop the smile forming on my lips. Ruffling her hair, I replied, "My day was good, little one. But aren't you forgetting something?"

Removing her face from my chest, she tilted her head slightly in confusion. How cute. "Yah?"

"Tala has company."

"Oh!" the little girl squeaked and immediately hopped off my lap. She rushed over to Kai. "**HELLO! MY NAME IS CALINA!**"

I face-palmed. Bold little one, wasn't she? Well, wasn't this something; a little girl talking to Kai, the wall. I watched him stare at her. What I didn't expect was he suddenly picked her up and tickled her. Calina laughed, squirming in his arms before yelling, "Stop! Stop! Calina's about to go boooooooom!" Maybe that's when I saw something I wasn't supposed to see; I just witnessed a softer side of Kai! Oi, since when was Kai 'child friendly' anyway? And look at him, he's smirking! That bastard! Did Hell just freeze over or was I completely insane, imagining my friend smile and let alone, play with my little sister? Pinching myself, I made sure I wasn't dead. Ow. Yep, I'm pretty much very alive.

Rubbing my stinging arm I said, "Calina, come here."

The little girl squealed louder, escaping from Kai rushing back to me. I released a grunt when she literally jumped and body slammed into me. Ow. It didn't help when her entire weight fell onto my chest. I shall be expecting bruises in the near future.

"Calina! Time to do homework!"

We turned our attention to the door; Inessa stood there with a smile on her face. Behind her was Irene who held a silver tray with snacks and coffee.

"Hi mom," I said, looking at her. "Is it me or is Calina _much_ heavier than she was at Christmas?"

Inessa laughed. "She's a growing child, sweetie."

I heard Kai clear his throat. I believe he was trying not to laugh... _if_ he was even capable of it.

Ignoring my _silent_ friend I turned my attention to Calina, "My, my Calina!" I exclaimed poking her belly. "If you get any heavier then I won't be able to pick you up!"

Calina's jaw fell open. She immediately shook her head thinking how her life would be if I didn't or rather, couldn't pick her up. "Ahhhhh!" she released a cry. "I don't want to be heavier! It's Irene's fault! She made me eat yucky veggies!"

I turned my attention to Irene whose back was turned to me. I imaged she smiled on the other side.

Returning my attention to Calina I spoke, "Now, now don't go blaming Irene. You need your veggies to be beautiful like Irene—"

Crap. What the hell was I saying? I immediately shut up turning my head away. Clearing my throat, I hoped someone was to fill in the silence for me. Curse my interesting choice of words! Damn! Feeling a blush creeping up on my face, I lifted Calina off my lap and excused myself from the room. I leaned behind the door rubbing my face. Wow, wasn't that awkward? Behind the door, I heard Calina squeal but only this time she was teasing Irene.

"Tala and Irene sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

Pinching the area between my eyes, I thought, _Really? What are they teaching children nowadays?_ I heard my mother laugh followed by Calina who burst into a fit of giggles. I imagined Kai smirking and Irene, well, she probably remained silent as her cheeks turned rose red. Pushing myself off the wooden door, I made my way down the hallway thinking about... Irene. Ugh! What was wrong with me? Shaking my head, I made note that she was my maid and a loyal servant to the Murin household. Nothing more, nothing less. All this humanly emotions confuse me so, I concluded.

I arrived in the living room where I spotted Gregori sitting by the fireplace with a pipe hanging from the corner of his mouth. Greeting him, he looked up and smiled at me.

"Ah Tala! Just the person I wanted to see."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you can tutor Calina English?"

"Sure but isn't the school teaching her?" I questioned. I thought schools were teaching English to children since kindergarten.

Gregori nodded, "Yes they do teach English but I rather let her learn from someone who learnt it properly and spoke it all their lives. Plus, what they teach in school is formal English. I want her to know informal English,"

"Ah," I nodded. "Sure thing. When do I start?"

"After Calina is done with her homework and French lessons with Irene,"

Ah, Irene, again. Without thinking, I made my way to sit across from Gregori.

"Dad... um, can I ask you something?"

"Yes?"

"Has Irene always been here?"

Gregori looked at me quizzically. Realizing I asked out of plain curiosity, he placed down the green leathered book onto the side table. Removing his glasses he began, "Irene was adopted, just like you and Calina. Although the circumstances were different,"

"Hm?"

"I remembered we met Irene when Inessa and I were touring Paris during our honeymoon," Gregori leaned deeply into the armchair lacing his fingers together.

Closing his eyes, he recalled sweet memories...

_He remembered walking down the streets of Paris, hand in hand with his beloved wife, Inessa. He couldn't be happier! Well, he never assumed a day like this would come after the fact Inessa's father detested him for not being 'perfect' or 'ideal' for his daughter. Nonetheless, love triumphed in the end. Pigeons took flight into the blue sky and Inessa reached for the skies as if she, herself gained wings to fly with them. Oh how she loved the thought of being free! With a cool breeze passing her, she laughed and turned around smiling at Gregori. Her smile so heart warming it could bring a smile to anybody's face within a heartbeat. And that was that smile that he fell in love with all those years ago._

"_Gregori!" she called out. Gregori watched Inessa running to a nearby cafe. "Hey, let's try this place!"_

"_You really need to keep that sweet tooth under control," Gregori laughed, walking over. _

_ It was a small cafe on the corner of the block surrounded by ancient brown, yellow and white cobble stones. Outside was a small patio were several black metallic chairs with white and green striped cushions placed in sets of two. Added to the front was a small fountain surrounded by several brightly colored flowers and small cupids holding arrows waiting to strike 'Cupid's Arrow' into their next targets. _

_The couple entered through the glass door as silver chimes echoed; a waitress at the front approached them with a smile of her own, greeting them. Walking them to a small table next to an aquarium filled with exotic tropical fish, she placed down two laminated menus and relayed today's special. With that, she bowed and left._

"_My! I can't decide what I want!" Inessa exclaimed with her finger scanning through the food items and of course, French wine. "Oh dear, I'm going to gain so much weight!"_

"_This is why places like this are dangerous," Gregori said flatly._

_ It didn't help when Inessa chuckled, kicking him under the table. The waitress returned five minutes later asking them for their orders. Placing down their orders, the blonde haired girl left for the kitchen and immediately, the couple heard the sound of dishes crashing against the floor tiles. Inessa was the first to react, rushing to the kitchen. Without thinking she pushed the doors open and on the floor was the waitress clutching her hands tightly. Red lines dripped from the waitress's hand staining the white apron._

"_Hey, are you alright?" Inessa asked in French crouching down next to her._

"_Oui..."_

"_Here," Inessa slowly pulled the waitress up. Removing the scarf from around her neck, she carefully wrapped it around the waitress's hand. "I'm going to take you to the doctor, alright?"_

_ Suddenly, the sound of a woman's screech sliced through the air sending shivers down the waitress's spine. A lanky and tall French woman entered the kitchen; several strands of hair hung down her face as her eyebrows furrowed with her green eyes glaring daggers at the young waitress. Inessa had a feeling she had to intervene. She knew it was none of her business but this waitress here was unable continue and she bloody well didn't care what this woman was going to say._

_The corner of the brunette's lips curved upwards into a snarl but she maintained a straight face nonetheless. Speaking in French to Inessa she spoke almost too kindly, "I must ask you to leave now, madam."_

"_I can't," Inessa responded firmly. "I need to take this girl to the doctor."_

"_Without any disrespect __**madam,**_" _the woman took a step closer. "She is my employee."_

_Inessa's finger twitched. Giving the woman a firm smile she continued, "Yes but she's injured, she can't continue."_

"_With all due respect, she can continue," the brunette took another step forward._

Gregori massaged the area between his eyes remembering that day all too well. I tilted my head.

"You alright dad?"

"I'm fine," then Gregori released a laugh. "You know, that was the first time I've seen your mother angry! It's quite frightening!"

"Oh..." Tala fell into deep thought. The idea of imagining Inessa angry did not compute. It wasn't on the path of logical thinking or imagination.

"Never had I thought someone so sweet as your mother would have a dark side! I remembered she argued with that woman until both of us were kicked out of the restaurant! Even the police was involved!"

I suddenly began to doubt if I was adopted into the right family.

Finding my voice, I asked, "So what happened after that?"

"We strolled by the cafe again at night, we found the waitress thrown out with a suitcase by her feet, clothes scattered on the road and that woman, who Inessa argued with yelling at the poor girl."

"Oh..."

"We found out later that woman was Irene's stepmother who managed the cafe. This time both of us intervened and took Irene under our wing. At the time we weren't sure what we were doing but we knew, deep in our hearts it was the right thing to do." Gregori paused for a moment gathering his thoughts before continuing, "Irene's stepmother was a horrible woman,"

_Nobody could be as horrible as Boris..._ I shook my head and then asked, "Horrible? How come?"

"She forced her daughter to gain money buy 'unconventional' methods." Gregori replied darkly. With a frown etched on his face he concluded, "It broke our hearts to hear Irene telling us she was pregnant by one of her customers but in the end, she miscarried."

I understood every human life was different in the sense some people were destined for bad luck. Hell, I thought I was one of those people but I began to understand, even a little, that others share a series of unfortunate events, varying to different degrees of course. Personally, I thought abbey life was my personal hell but to listen to Irene's story... her life was not easy either. Hm. Maybe everything wasn't as bad as I thought...

Pushing myself off the chair, I looked at Gregori, "Thanks dad."

"For what?"

"Making me realize not everybody is perfect. We don't need to be perfect... we just need people who love us."

I made my way back to the room and hopefully, everybody had forgotten the thing I said earlier. Turning the door knob, my eyes locked onto Kai sitting on the floor with his legs crossed. Beside him was Calina with several pieces of paper scattered around her, which I assumed was her homework. There, I watched Kai explaining in simple terms the process of photosynthesis. Calina tried desperately to absorb his teachings but I could I tell she was having trouble getting the overall picture. Time for me to intervene, I believe.

Calina looked up at me, "I don't get it!"

"Come here," I crouched down and picked her up. Locking gazes with Kai I asked, "Since when you socialize with children?"

"..."

Typical. Rolling my eyes I continued, "Just spit it out."

"I tutor morons at university. Happy?"

The very words coming out of his mouth barely computed in my mind. Him? Tutor? I couldn't help but release a dry laugh. As usual, my response was silence. Calina looked from me to him. Quite curious had to ask me.

"What's a moron?"

"That is something that I will tell you later, little one," I replied placing Calina back down. The little girl was about to argue but she didn't; instead she plopped back down to her homework with eyebrows furrowed. Clearly she wasn't pleased. "Calina, I'll help you finish your homework and we can play later alright?"

Her eyes sparkled with excitement at the mere mention of 'play'. "Yay!"

Shooting a glare my _dear_ friend I said, "And you can play horsey with Kai. He makes a great horse! How does that sound?"

He grunted as usual, he kept his comments to himself. Calina looked at me and said, "Can Irene play too? I want all of us to be happy and have lots of fun!"

Ruffling her chestnut hair I smiled, "Yes, she can play with us too."

As long as I have my family and friends beside me, life could still be perfect, just the way I like it.


	11. Natalie

**A/N:** I think it's about time I update this one :) I want to thank **levells **and** Bey-beyfan! **Do you think every family is perfect? No, it's not since most families have secrets to hide behind smiling faces. The Murins were no exception. What will Tala discover within the mansion? Find out on the latest instalment of _Welcome Home _(after 2000 years of no updates, lol). Okay worse sales pitch ever, lol.

Feel free to leave reviews or PM me on what you want to see in the future :D

**Note:** _Простите_ means 'Sorry', pronounced as: Prastite. I can be wrong but I did some Googling, lol. Not the most effective way but yeah... lol.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**Summary: **Tala is adopted into a loving home, starting a new life but he had to his friends behind. It's not quite often blessings come in disguises but in this case, it's more than a blessing; it's a gift.

* * *

**Chapter 11: **Natalie

Walking through the door, I sighed aloud. Rubbing the back of my neck, today was awful. Chemistry class was _horrible_; to think all girls wanted to sit by me was... ugh. For the life of me I couldn't concentrate on the damn assignment! Every so often someone would comment on my hair! Plopping onto a couch, my fingers ran through my hair. My hairstyle slightly changed; it was quite different from what I had years ago. No longer did my hair appear to have 'horns'. They're slightly trimmed down and with the miracle of gel, now they're slightly spiky. The two strands which dangled in front of my face remained there; I didn't want to completely change into somebody I'm not. Fiddling with the strands, my mind took me away from school and into this life I was thrown into.

Every so often when I sat by myself in a quiet room, my thoughts took me back to the day I entered this family. The Murins were so _perfect_. How could they be a perfect family? Achieving the level of perfection never existed so why do the Murins defy this concept? Tapping a finger on the arm rest, my mind went to work. I didn't want to start snooping around but if I were to _know_ my family, I at least should know their history. It didn't need to be told that the Murins have an extensive history with the Russian military. Who knows that maybe the Murins once served under the Tsar.

Pushing out of the chair, I made my way quietly out of the room, having a moment to myself thinking where to begin. Photo albums were usually the first place to look. I know there were some photo albums stored in the living room and maybe, just maybe, the attic.

"Okay, let's do this."

Arriving in the living room, luck was on my side; the room was empty. Making my way to the wooden bookshelves, I began looking for photo albums. Okay, so nothing on this shelf said anything about a photo album. I sighed. Pulling out a random book, the book next to it fell out, plopping onto the carpet.

"What's this?" Picking up the book I read the spine, "Russian Geography. Wow, how I'm not excited..."

What I didn't expect was when I was about to place the book back, a piece of paper slipped out. A clue! Picking it up, it was an envelope. Opening it up, it was a combination code.

_That's odd. I don't remember seeing a safe anywhere here. Time to snoop some more._

Tucking away the piece of paper, I made sure the books returned to their rightful position. Slipping out of the room, I made my way to—

"**TAAAAALAAAAAAAA!**"

Calina slammed into me from behind. Sliding down the hallway on my stomach, I groaned. Ow.

"**What's Tala up to?**" Calina said brightly, bouncing on my back like a bouncy castle. In addition to her energetic outbursts, Calina was _loud_.

_Ow,_ again. Calina wasn't going to get off my back until I responded. "I'm going to do my homework,"

"Oh!" Quickly scrambling off him, Calina apologized. "Простите!"

Calina quickly dashed down the hallway and out of sight. Pushing himself up, I groaned dusting myself. Standing up, I heard the sound of the piano keys being played down the hall. Good, it was time for Calina's piano lessons. Now to focus on the mission. Walking the opposite direction, I made my way to the other study room; this study room belonged to Gregori. I entered it once or twice but only when Gregori summoned me. Going in there by myself was a new adventure, if you could call it that way. Looking over my shoulder, nobody was behind me. Staying still, I made sure no footsteps headed my way. Perfect. Nobody was around. The last thing I want to happen was for a butler or maid to discover me 'snooping' around in the Master's study room. Indeed, it would be awkward to explain.

Slowly and as quietly as possible, I unlocked the door. Sticking my head in, Gregori was nowhere to be found. Good. Closing the door behind me with a soft click, my eyes had to adjust to the amount of light which entered the room. Adjacent to me were three large glass windows and behind that, a white balcony adorned with several flower pots. No flowers bloomed in the frigid cold with snow spilling over its pots. Shaking my head, I remembered I wasn't here to admire flower pots. I came here to find a safe. Where it may be was still a mystery still to be solved.

Looking around the room, I had no clue where to begin! Certainly the safe was not behind a portrait, was it? Y'know, like in movies? Ah what the heck! Storming to a Murin portrait, I carefully pushed it aside. Nope, no hidden safe here. Okay, maybe this wasn't the best approach to finding the safe. Turning around, my eyes were locked onto the tall bookshelves across the room. Looking up and down, the top of the shelf touched the ceiling! There has to be over five-hundred books here! It was a strange feeling but something pulled me toward the bookshelves. As expected, the books were about European history and the militia. Everything from the conquest of William the Conquer to Napoleon was on the shelves. Not to mention several volumes about World War I and World War II.

"Where can that blasted thing be?" I asked myself. Surely, no answer was about to manifest before me so might as well start looking for answers. Suddenly an idea struck me, "Maybe... Maybe it's something hidden in plain sight."

Taking a step forward, my knee came into contact with the cupboard. I heard the cupboard creak. Bending down, I opened the cupboard and bingo! There was a safe! Pulling out the piece of paper from my pocket, I quickly input the combinations. With one final spin, a distinctive click echoed. Quite pleased with myself, I opened the safe to find—

"A photo?"

I did _not_ expect this. Reaching in, grabbing the Polaroid, my hand slightly trembled. Was this one of the Murin's dark secrets? To think, I was holding something dear to them and it seemed as if in any moment, the Polaroid could crumble into dust. I gently breathed; this was no time to be freaking out. Now face to face with the Polaroid, I immediately recognized Inessa. In her arms was a baby girl.

"She's beautiful..."

"I know, isn't she?"

Startled, I turned around locking eyes with Inessa. At a loss for words, I wasn't sure what to do! Here I held their treasure and there she was standing there, smiling at me!

"Mom!" I began. "I-I can explain! I—"

"Say no more," Inessa approached me and pulled me up. "Flip it,"

Flipping over the Polaroid, my eyes widened. My lips became dry. "The... The name..."

"That's right; her name's Tala."

My body froze. My heart rammed against my chest and blood drained from my face. Inessa lost her smile. Turning to Inessa, she lost the shine from her eyes as her blue eyes pooled with tears. Pulling the Polaroid out from my grasp, she released a sigh.

"This was my first child," she began. "We named her Natalie but we called her Tala for short. She was a beautiful baby, born in December when the first snow touched,"

"Mom..."

Inessa stroked her thumb over the glossy photo, "Natalie was only 18 months old when she died... in my arms."

"I..." Now I feel horrible. I blamed myself for going on this stupid treasure hunt! Look at my mother, who always had a smile on her face now crying, remembering repressed memories of her first born! Words spilled out of my mouth, "Mom... I... I'm sorry."

Lost within her mind, Inessa continued, "At the time, Gregori and I tried many years for a child but with no results, we began to lose faith. I found out one day I had conceived; it was probably the happiest day of my life."

"I see."

"Things were much different back in those days; the house you see here was non-existent back in the day. We lived together in a house far away from here by the river... We were poor, Tala. We barely fed ourselves but when Natalie was born, Gregori decided to join the army. He thought it was the best way to provide for Natalie and I."

"..."

"Because we lived so far away, life was a struggle. It took two hours just to get into the city. When Natalie fell sick, I was crushed. Gregori was away and I had very little money. My only chance at the time was to take Natalie into the city. Every moment, I prayed for the Gods to help us... At least, save her and kill me off..."

At a loss for words, I couldn't possibly imagine what was going through Inessa's mind at the time. Each moment passed was excruciating. Putting a hand against my beating heart, I felt as if my heart was shackled by iron chains. A rush of emotions surged through me like fire; the pain was so great, I released a grunt.

Inessa approached the window, pressing her hand onto the clear glass. "By the time I reached the city, Natalie barely breathed. At the hospital, my heart felt as if it was ripped out of my chest. The line up was unimaginable; to see the amount of people suffering... I was told the hospital was understaffed."

"..."

"When it was our turn, my... my..." Inessa choked.

My legs moved on their own, making me approach my mother and hugged her. Burying my face in her back, I felt my mother's body tremble as sobs echoed louder. Unsure of what to do, all I could do was comfort my mother. Again, I made someone else cry.

Inessa tried keeping it together but as hard as she tried, she crumbled. "Na... Natalie was dead... Tala died... She died in my arms..."

Falling on her knees, Inessa's sobs echoed around unheard by the rest of the world except for Tala, her son. With every fallen tear, Inessa's memories slipped through her fingers one by one; she was once told once a life was lost, nothing could bring them back. Nothing. But yet, she was also told with each new life she gained, she was to honour and cherish them without prejudice. Honour the ones who fell to their unfortunate untimely deaths. Treasure what you have now and never let go. Never let go of what was most important to you, right here, right now.


End file.
